Cataclysm
by BruHaeven
Summary: A martial artist’s life taken too early. A ninja’s life offered in exchange. A journey toward resurrection finds love in the most unexpected of places. With everything gained will it all be sacrificed? Because Yuffie would do anything for her friends. YxR
1. Prologue

Alright kids here's the

**Full Summary:**

Yuffie would do anything for her friends. After Tifa dies from a complication with her pregnancy and Cloud spirals into a deep depression, the ninja takes it upon her own shoulders to bring her friend back to life. Even if it means giving her own. However, When Yuffie falls for someone, _hard_, along her road toward resurrecting Tifa; will she be able to go through it with so much to lose?

* * *

The bar was dark, Yuffie noted and—although this was nothing new—it left her with an icy feeling in the pit of her stomach and a burning sensation behind her eyelids. The bar had been dark for two weeks. Darkness had encased the rooms since the day Marlene and Denzel had gone to live with Barret. Since the day Cloud had locked himself in his office. Since the day Tifa had…

Shaking her head to clear the damp haze beginning to blur her vision, the young shinobi strode up the quiet steps and gave the door a shove, expecting to find it locked. To her surprise, though the emotion barely registered on her face, it flung open without so much as a groan of protest, the bell above its frame tinkling eerily in the shadowed room. A fine layer of dust, barely there after only two weeks of neglect, swirled up under Yuffie's bright boots as she paced slowly, silently across the hardwood flooring of the bars interior. Running a hand gently across the surface of the bar, its surface unpolished and neglected, the young woman choked back the sobs threatening to erupt from her throat. She needed to be strong and now…she finally had hope. Now, she finally had good news.

Gripping the banister tightly, Yuffie gazed into the pitch black void that awaited her as she began to ascend the stairs. Her eyes had adjusted to the light, or lack thereof, by this point, but the atmosphere was still smothering her. Without Tifa's presence, the bar was devoid of life, and Yuffie's eyes burned at the implications.

The bar was dead. The bar was dead because Tifa was d—

She had reached the top of the stairs. A right-hand turn and the door to Cloud's office was staring blankly back at her. Wiping the somber look from her face and fixing a smile in its place instead, Yuffie prepared herself to act hyper, happy…like she hadn't just lost her best fr—

But it wasn't about Yuffie at the moment, she reminded herself; right now it was time for her to bring Cloud the news. The good news. The first good news any of them had heard in a while. That train of thought bolstered Yuffie's resolve to face the blonde swordsman holed up just a room away. Her fingers curved into a fist before whipping up to collide with the office door.

There was no sound from within.

"Open up, chocobo-head!" Poundpoundpoundpoundpound.

A slight shuffle was heard and then silence descended once again.

"You can't hide out forever, ya know! Now open the damn door Spikey, before I bust in there ninja-style and kick yo—" The door was yanked open so hard that it smacked against the inside wall with a loud crunch. The doorframe shuddered. As did Yuffie once her eyes focused on the sword leveled at her head.

"You have three seconds to get out." A voiced rasped out from the inky depths of the office.

"Put down the sword, Cloud."

"Three…"

"I'm fucking serious here; I actually have something to tell—"

"Two…"

"I CAN BRING TIFA BACK DAMMIT!" Yuffie screeched, hoping to break through the shroud of sorrow that was draped around the swordsman, suffocating his sense and reason.

What Yuffie _didn't_ expect was the fist cracking against her jaw, or the wall to hurt so bad when she was flung against it like a rag doll.

"You fucking jackass!" She cried indignantly from her crumpled place on the floor.

"Don't. Say. Her. Name." Cloud spat out through clenched teeth, advancing out of the shadowed room and into the hallway. Before he could even reach Yuffie however, she had flipped to her feet and was behind him in a flash of black hair and creamy skin. The dagger pressed to his jugular was anything but an empty threat. Cloud froze at the feel of cool metal on his skin.

"You will listen to me, Strife, and you will _fucking_ listen good." Yuffie's voice was a murmur, quiet and deadly as the shuriken she wielded in battle. "I have a way to bring her back, but if all the thanks I get is a knuckle-sandwich and a nice collision with a wall, then I might not go through with it." That _was_ an empty threat—Yuffie missed Tifa just as much as Cloud, and if there was a way to resurrect her, bitchy chocobo-head or no, Yuffie was gonna do it.

There was silence for the space of three heartbeats before Cloud spoke, and when he did; his voice was broken and defeated.

"…You're serious? This…this isn't some trick to get me out of the bar?"

"Spikes, the only trick I'd play on you would involve me stealing your materia. Now, can I put my dagger away, or are you gonna throw another hissy fit that involves sexy ninjas smacking into inanimate objects against their will?"

The blonde head dipped a little as he mumbled an apology, voice laced with guilt.

"Eh, whatevs. I'm a tough cookie, I can handle being pushed around by a bully every once in a while. Besides, you hit like a girl." Yuffie tried futilely to lighten the mood as she sheathed her dagger in her boot and headed down the stairs. "If you wanna listen, I'd prefer to have it be somewhere where I can sit down. Seeing as your office creeps me out, I think it should take place down here." She called as she descended the stairs.

Settling herself in one of the booths, Yuffie waited as the heavier, plodding steps of the swordsman mimicked her path down the staircase and carried him to the opposite side of her booth. They sat together in silence for a few moments. Yuffie finally wrenched her gaze off of the patterns in the wooden table and met the aqua pools that were nearly boring holes in her skull. The twin shadows beneath his eyes, black as hate, had not been there two weeks ago.

"Alright, so here's the deal. Basically, I get to have all the fun, and do all the cool stuff, while you sit here like a good husband and wait for me to resurrect your wife."

"What exactly are the details?" Cloud asked quietly. Yuffie winced inwardly. She had been hoping against all hopes that he wouldn't ask her that, so she wouldn't have to lie. However, he _did_ ask, so now he left her no choice.

"Well, I go on a journey and gather a bunch of Wutaiian ceremonial shit, bring it to where there's Lifestream, say a few words and then she comes out all sparkly and pristine and covered in green goopy crud, and you two go off and live happily ever after and pretend she never…passed." The lie came easily—Yuffie was a ninja after all, and deception was her way of life.

"How do you know this will work?" Again, that internal reflex to flinch fired in Yuffie's brain, only this time Cloud's question was rewarded with the truth.

"Because…because I died once. When I was four I got poisoned. Some plot to kill off the heir to the throne…and uh…my mom brought me back. So, I guess I'm living proof that it works, huh?" Silence swathed the room again, until Cloud asked his final question.

"…What about the baby?" His voice broke on the last word.

"Oh gawd, Cloud…I'm sorry, I don't know. I don't know if the baby will make it or not. But the pregnancy was…the cause of her death, and this process heals the person being brought back, heals them of whatever killed them so…I don't think the baby will make it." Yuffie's downcast eyes suddenly brightened. "But, you never know! I could be wrong." In a jerky motion, Cloud lurched across the mahogany surface separating the two and had clamped his hands around Yuffie's shoulders.

"Yuffie Kisaragi, on your honor as a ninja, on our friendship and on Tifa's soul, promise me that you will do everything in your power to bring her back to life." Her eyes were wide and her jaw was slightly slack as he gave her a shake. "_Promise me!_"

Yuffie's eyes squeezed shut, a bit of pain coursing through her as her resolve wavered. She wrenched her eyelids open as determination flared within her core and stared squarely into Cloud's eyes, haunted eyes that were desperately seeking her confirmation. "I promise." The ninja whispered.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky as Yuffie set out across the plains outside Kalm. Had this been a normal day, before the death of Tifa and before Yuffie made promises that would be horrifyingly difficult to keep and before she had shouldered a lot more maturity than she cared to deal with, it would have been a joyous setting.

Instead, she chose to reflect upon the miserable event that led to the beginning of what would be her last journey.

_Throughout Tifa's pregnancy, no one realized that the martial artist was sick. Perhaps if Aeris had still been alive she might have known, what with her sixth sense she possessed for when any sort of disease or sickness was present in someone close to her. But the hard truth was, Aeris wasn't alive and no one realized that Tifa had developed Toxemia. The only complaint she ever had was that her eyesight was getting a little skewed at times. Her blood pressure had been fine until the one, fatal morning. _

_The sun had just begun to rise as Cloud returned to the bar from an early delivery. The first, horrific sight that his gaze fell upon was Tifa's seizing, swollen figure, twitching on the floor of the Seventh Heaven. By the time she was brought to the hospital, it was already too late. Her kidneys and liver had begun shutting down when she had gotten up to open the bar. Her blood pressure had spiked and then she had entered into a coma. Her internal organs were still failing, one by one. Tifa was going to die. _

_The whole of AVALANCHE kept vigil at the hospital, but only Cloud was allowed in the room with her. Vincent stood in the corner, his façade of stoicism marred by the worried crease of his forehead and the anxious tapping of his fingers. Red was pacing, his tail flicking to and fro worriedly. Cid was outside smoking cig after cig after cig to ward off the anxiety and worry. Shera was with him, dealing with the smoke that she detested—her show of support for her husband. Barret was a mess. He sat with bloodshot eyes brimming with tears, howling sobs tearing from his chest. Reeve was staring blankly at the wall across from him, looking more like a zombie than the calm, collected and spirited man everyone was used to seeing. Yuffie was curled in a chair, hugging herself as if she were about to shatter, her face buried in her knees as she immersed herself in memories, reliving the deaths of thousands of her people at the hands of Shin-Ra. Their vigil was a relatively short one._

_Not six hours later, a cry was heard from within the hospital depths. It was the sound of a heart breaking, of love being lost, of death. Yuffie had heard the sound too many times to count, but never from so close a friend. She had not been with her father when her mother died, but she could imagine—with sickening clarity—that the sound coming from Cloud Strife's lips as Tifa Lockheart died was a replica of the sound her father would have made when his beloved wife passed away. _

Yuffie jerked herself from her memories as a pack of Midgar wolves loped out from the underbrush to surround her. With a slight sigh and a quick flick of her wrist, Conformer was sent soaring. Four down, five to go and her shuriken was back in her hand and flying again before a second had passed. One wolf was left, a one-on-one battle and Yuffie decided to have some fun with it. There was an odd mound of boulders to her left and Yuffie sprinted towards it, up it and flipped backwards. As she reached the peak of her arc through the air, where she was horizontal with the ground, she released Conformer, her muscles performing actions so familiar that she didn't even feel a burn. The wolf's yelp let her know that her projectile had found its mark as she landed in a crouch, head bowed. One hand shot up to receive her weapon; it was shouldered and she was sashaying away before three heartbeats had passed.

With the wolves gone, Yuffie's mind could return to its meandering. As the scenery passed around her, patchy green grass swaying in the breeze and random cliff faces or outcroppings dotting the landscape, the ninja did her best to keep her thoughts from hovering on the real task she would have to complete. It had taken Yuffie one week to even consider the ancient ritual, and then another week to gather enough courage and determination to suggest it to Cloud.

In the end, Yuffie always knew she would go through with it. Because the ninja, the youngest of their patchwork family, would do anything for her friends. Even die for them. This journey would be proof of that.

The girl allowed herself a bittersweet laugh. She wondered if Cloud would have still made her promise to do whatever she could, had he really known just how much she could, and would, do.

Yuffie didn't actually need to gather "Wutaiian Ceremonial Shit" as she had so eloquently put it to Cloud. She simply needed to go on a journey and along that journey she needed to find the one thing that completed her life. The one thing that if everything else incinerated into hell, as long as it was still there she could go on living. And once she found that, whatever it so happened to be, she had to give it up in the most final way possible. She had to kill herself. Her life energy, her sacrifice, would bring Tifa back.

A life for a life. One life, given willingly with everything to lose and nothing to gain but a cold grave, could bring back another who had expired before their time. Leviathan was a god who believed in sacrifice and loyalty, but not always fairness—after all, loyalty is not about being fair, it is about commitment and honor no matter how unjust the circumstances. The resurrection ritual was one of Leviathan's many sacraments to demonstrate that lesson.

It was the same ritual that had given Yuffie a second chance when she had died prematurely, and the same ritual that had taken her mother's life. It was what would give Tifa and Cloud another chance at a happy ending, another chance to start a family. And it was what would end Yuffie's life. The ninja would do anything for her friends.

* * *

(AN: Alrighty, this was an idea that hit me one day and so I decided to see where it would take me. This chapter is more of a prologue than anything else. Reviews are always appreciated, especially constructive criticism. Flames will be used to roast puppies, so don't do it! It's cruel and mean and just NO! Also, I'm aware that Yuffie and Cloud might be a touch OOC, but Tifa just died so…I think angst and depression is warranted. Now hit the little purpley-gray button!)


	2. Ribbons

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Final Fantasy in this fic. Sadly. I cry about it every night.

* * *

"GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!" The whistle of blades through air was heard and Yuffie swore again. If there was one thing she hated, it was mandragoras, and the little shrubs were practically infesting the plains between Edge and the Mythril Mines. It wasn't that they were particularly difficult to fell, just that they were a major pain in the ass. The weedy corpses strewn around the ninja signified a vegetable massacre of epic proportions. Yuffie hated the little plants vehemently. So much so, that she had kind of enjoyed the mass carnage she had just wrecked upon their population. Only kind of though, because her butchery had gone on for about two hours longer than she would have liked…she would've been just peachy at ten minutes. And so, it was with tired shoulders and a tense stance that she stumbled into Billy's chocobo barn as the sun was just beginning to set.

"Wanna give a princess a place to sleep tonight, Billy?" She asked tiredly in response to Billy's questioning glance.

He grinned cheekily at his older friend. "Sure thing, Yuffs. Mister Vincent was here to pick up Havoc the other day, so his bird's stall is _all_ yours." Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Jerk. If I had to stay in anybody's chocobo stall, it wouldn't be Vinnie's. His dark and brooding aura is probably, like attached to it or something. And I have had enough of brooding people lately."

In the end, Billy finally took Yuffie back to one of the spare rooms in his house, where she proceeded to snuggle down under the blankets, stretching and curling like a cat. She was asleep within minutes, and remained succumbed in slumber until the next morning's daybreak. Even then, she was only roused by her stomach's noisy misgivings about her lack of dinner the previous night.

With a groan, Yuffie traded in the warm, plush bed for the cold floor beneath her feet as she rose to continue her journey. Waking up to die. A bitter smirk twisted the skin of her lips as she made the bed. She had heard so many people throughout her life make the same, dumb promises.

'_Oh, I'd die for my friends. I'd die for my family. I'd die for my crazy, half-blind dog that nobody even likes.'_

How many of those people would actually do it? Yuffie could think of only one. Aeris. However, in that same vein, Yuffie wondered what _she_ would have done, had she been the only remaining Ancient. Would she have left in the middle of the night, to wander into certain death? Had it even _been_ certain? Surely the flower girl hadn't expected to die that day…she had asked for airship rides and dates with chocobo headed boys, all things that symbolized life and a future. She had said that she'd come back when it was all over…but what exactly did she mean? She'd come back when her prayer was over? When the fight with Sephiroth was over? When the Planet's life was over? Perhaps it had been an empty statement, but Yuffie didn't believe so.

Lost in her thoughts, the shinobi made her way out to the barn where her black chocobo, Zero, was groomed and ready to go. Once she was mounted, Yuffie threw a glance down at Billy, who was waiting to see her off.

"You said Vinnie was here yesterday?" She inquired.

"Yup, but he picked up Havoc and was gone without very much conversation. He's a quiet one, Mister Vincent." With a nod and a smile, Yuffie dug her heels into Zero's sides and they took off, bird and rider, towards the marsh.

"Hmm…maybe I should meet up with Vinnie…see how's he's been. He hasn't been around since Tifa passed. Sound like a good idea, Zero? You and Havoc could have a big, feathery playdate!" She grinned down at her bird as it gave a soft _wark_, and continued to speed along the plains and into the damp mist of swampland expanding before them.

Once they sludge and fog of the marsh surrounded her, Yuffie had fun taunting the Zolom slithering about in the haziness. She raced it, dodged this way and that way, let it chase her and _almost_ catch her before urging Zero to use a burst of speed, cackling the entire way. Like most fun things, her teasing came to an end all too soon and the entrance to the Mythril Mines was before her. She dismounted in a fluid movement and fed her faithful chocobo a few Gyshal Greens, before patting his beak firmly.

"Go on back to Billy's, Zero. I don't wanna take you through the mines, it's a little too cramped for a big bird like you." The black chocobo warked quietly again, before loping off, back to the farm. As soon as he was out of sight, Yuffie jammed her hands deep into the pockets of her shorts and strode through the dark cave entrance before her, whistling a cheery tune. The way forward was a coiled labyrinth of passages, shining slightly cerulean from the Mythril ore it possessed. Yuffie admired the sight with new eyes, appreciating the beauty even as she felled the occasional monster. As she wandered she picked up various items that travelers had either dropped due to carelessness or had lost when monsters after monsters attacked. And X-potion here, a phoenix down there…even a ribbon. She pocketed all everything, humming a silly little _finders keepers, losers weepers_ to herself as she picked her way through the cobalt passages.

It was there, winding her way through the azure depths of the mines that Yuffie's eyes came to rest on a familiar shock of hair, and her ears picked up on an even more familiar drawl.

"…sends me out to fucking look for some goddamn gift for his fucking girlfriend… couldn't send Rude, 'cause Rude's busy with goddamn Elena… fuck this shit, man…"

Crouched on the path just ahead was none other than Reno of the Turks, and it was blatantly obvious that he was pissed off. Yuffie smirked as she surveyed the scene.

"Problems, Turkey?" She quipped.

Even though he hadn't heard her approach, there was something to be said for his reflexes; they were very quick. In one fluid motion he had straightened up, spun and had his EMR in her face and crackling with electricity. While his reflexes were sharp, Yuffie's were still better as her Conformer came up to block the threat from Reno's Electro-Mag Rod. They stared at each other for an immeasurable moment before both lowered their weapons.

"Well, if it isn't the bratty ninja-princess."

Yuffie rolled her eyes—Cid had called her a brat so much that the word had lost all derogatory meaning for her. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, Turkey?"

"I live here. I just couldn't resist the _great_ sunrise view every morning and my neighbors are awesome."

Despite herself, Yuffie giggled. "Oh yes, I'm sure the monsters in here make great company. Did they bring you homemade brownies and housewarming gifts when you moved in?" At the mention of gifts, Reno's expression darkened.

"Only gift in this shithole is the one that dumbass Tseng lost for his dumbass girlfriend." He muttered blackly.

"And so he was being lazy and sent you to find it for him?" Yuffie asked, her voice dipping kindly. "What's happened to the Turks…" she mused out loud.

"Tell me about it, yo." Reno scoffed. "Ever since you guys took out DeepGround, we've had nothing to do. Rude and Elena are off vacationing together to "see the world in its peaceful state" as she put it. Tseng spends all his time going out with Cissnei—she used to be a Turk until the whole Zack Fair thing—and Rufus just got married. So now all the odd jobs get sent to me." He looked at his EMR with scorn. "Dunno why I even bother keeping this around…don't have a use for it as an office gopher."

Yuffie opened her mouth to speak, before something caught her eye. An Ark Dragon was flying up the path, quiet as could be and obviously trying to catch the conversing ex-enemies off guard. The shinobi smirked. You couldn't sneak up on a ninja like her.

She backed up a couple steps as Reno watched her curiously, still oblivious to their winged visitor. Sprinting back towards the redheaded Turk, Yuffie leapt into the air and, using Reno's shoulder as a leverage, shoved herself towards the mine wall. Clinging to the wall for a split second, the ninja pushed off and spun into a backflip, moving as a blur of lithe, sinuous muscles and fluid steel blades. The screech of the Ark Dragon drowned out the sound of blood spattering as Yuffie landed and caught her shuriken smoothly. Uncurling from her crouch, she turned to face Reno with a grin brightening her features.

"_That's_ why you keep your EMR around, buddy. 'Cause you may be a Turk, but your concentration's off today. That's twice you've been snuck up on." She jutted her hip to the side and smirked.

Reno took his time looking the young woman over, unabashedly admiring the creamy length of her legs. Yuffie rolled her eyes and smack his jaw lightly.

"Oh, stop drooling. You're gonna ruin your shirt if you keep that up." Every time the hyper ninja and cocky Turk met it was always the same. They'd banter, she'd show off and he'd check her out shamelessly. "Anyhoo," she continued, "I should probably be on my way. I've got places to be, people to see…materia to steal, and I just can't afford to waste more time in your boring presence. Have fun gift shopping Turkey!"

"Oh no you don't, princess. You're gonna help me look for the goddamn present. He said he got her a ribbon to "protect her when he can't" or some sappy shit like that." Yuffie surreptitiously fingered the ribbon in her pocket, wavering between keeping it and making him look for a few more hours, or forking it over right then and there.

"Well Reno, this just so happens to be your lucky day." She slowly pulled the red scrap of cloth from its hiding place in her pocket.

The frustrated creases along his brow smoothed and his eyes were alight with his usual mischief. "Oh thank Shiva. Princess, I would kiss you right now if I knew that wouldn't hit me for it."

"Please don't. I really don't feel like getting an STD today." She grinned up at the redhead. "Anyway, I really do need to get going. Gotta get to Junon…" she trailed off.

"I'll see ya around then, kid. I'm heading back to Edge to give this to Tseng."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed in confusion. "You guys have been in Edge? How come I haven't seen you around more?"

"Well, after the…funeral, Tseng thought you guys might need time to yourselves. Cloud especially, but all of AVALANCHE, too."

"Reno. You guys are our friends, too. Gawd I don't even know how that happened. But friends help each other through shitty situations like that. Anyway, it's alright…Cloud _did_ go kind of psycho but I think he's getting better. But, I'll see ya later, Turkey. I gotta get to Junon so I can catch a boat and you gotta play delivery boy for Tseng." Yuffie turned on her heel and was about to leave when Reno's voice stopped her.

"Yuffie…are you okay? After…everything."

Without turning to face him, Yuffie answered steadily. "I'm fine. At least…I will be." ­­­­­

* * *

After she emerged from the mines but before she had blinked away the sunspots that were blinding her vision, Yuffie realized that for a moment, in Reno's presence, she had almost forgotten the depressing journey ahead of her. For a moment, his voice had almost overpowered the ticking clock, counting down the seconds to her death.

Scoffing at her morbid attitude, the ninja plastered a grin on her face and took off running toward Junon, then on to Nibelheim to make sure Vincent hadn't locked himself up again. As the landscape passed by as a blur, Yuffie tried to tell herself she was ready to face her fate, no matter what it held.

* * *

(AN: Chapter 1 down! Thanks go out to my reviewers: my awesome cousin, **Nevermore.Neverwhore, **my amazing roommate **MidnightXRequiem, and RultaProductions! **Thanks so much guys, and keep it up! Constructive Criticism is appreciated, and I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter and for any typos. I'm kind of bad at proofreading XD. Read? **Review!** Onward!)


	3. Compliments?

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Sigh.

* * *

Yuffie had always marveled a bit at the giant, metal city that was Upper Junon. The smaller, run-down portion barely held any of the ninja's interest, but the whirring, busy upper city was always buzzing—it reminded her of Midgar.

Only now, Yuffie felt as though she was seeing everything with new eyes, drinking in the sight of even the quiet lower city. She smiled and waved to the elderly people shuffling around, and received a hug from a not-so-young Priscilla, the girl she and Cloud and Tifa had saved all those years ago. The girl seemed to still have a crush on her spikey-haired savior from four years ago as she inquired whether or not he was with the shinobi. Priscilla's face fell slightly when Yuffie's answer was a no.

"I'll tell him you said 'Hi' if you want. And I'll see if I could get him to stop by for a visit… sound good?" Yuffie grinned as the girl's face lit up again. After the short interaction she continued on her way to the elevator which was now open for all public use, so the ninja didn't need to bribe anyone for her ride up to the more bustling city.

She strolled through the streets, whistling a made-up tune, with delicately calloused hands jammed deep into her pockets. The babble of voices washed over her: the nasally buzz of venders trying to attract buyers of their wares, the high-pitched, fast-paced trill of gossiping teen girls scanning the streets for attractive boys, the choking grate of laughter bubbling from the throats of a group of rowdy bar-goers. Her ears took everything in as she watched the people pass by—all of them different yet all of them the same as each was caught up in their own business.

Her attention drifted away from the passersby and flitted onto a more pressing subject: where was she going? To see Vincent, eventually. Maybe she'd stop by Corel and Cosmo Canyon on the way, to visit Barrett and Nanaki…either way worked for her. After that she could head to Rocket Town and check in on Cid and Shera. Then Nibelheim. Subconsciously, she realized she was saying her goodbyes.

But then what? Back to Wutai? She shuddered at the thought of what Godo would do if he knew her plan to use the ritual. His reaction would probably be something along the lines of a heart attack or an aneurism. Possibly lots of yelling. On second thought, _definitely_ lots of yelling. And Yuffie _hated_ being yelled at. So Wutai was out, unless she wanted to sneak back in the dead of night… which sounded rather ninja-like and fun so it was, of course, a possibility. And underneath all that, she wanted to say her goodbyes to her country, her land… her home.

The boat ride from Junon to Costa Del Sol, however, was not fun at all. There was not one ounce of fun involved in rocking boats, smacking waves and lots and _lots _of puking. Stupid Chocobo-head wasn't there to give her a tranquilizer, and neither were Tifa or Aeris to heal her because they were both…gone. Add a runny nose and puffy eyes due to crying on top of her nausea and she was not in what one would call a chipper mood.

And even wishing for death in jest with thoughts of _'Oh Leviathan, please just let me die so I can stop dry heaving and sleep'_ didn't help. Yuffie let out a bitter laugh because quite frankly she was already going to die because of Leviathan's standards; although it really wasn't humorous at all. Stepping off on the blindingly sunny shores of Costa, Yuffie felt a good ten pounds lighter in weight and a horrible thousand pounds heavier in mindset.

* * *

"Oh, thank _Gawd_!" Yuffie groaned as Corel finally came into view across train tracks. She hadn't been traveling for that long since reaching Costa, maybe half a day at most, but the journey had been brutally morbid, with only her thoughts and the occasional monster to keep herself occupied. Yuffie had always prided herself on being a prime actress among friends and strangers, especially when it came to lying, cheating, stealing, and—her specialty—acting hyperhappy _all the time_. But over the past few hours, or days or whenever it was since she was last with that dumb redheaded Turkey, her constant cheerfulness had dissipated with the lack of living company. Monsters didn't count—they were far too serious for the ninja's tastes. And Yuffie hated anything too serious, and she especially hated this new, gloom-filled mindset, but she couldn't' manage to shake it. Impending death did that to you, she supposed.

But finally, _finally, _finallyfinally_finally_, after miles of trekking in the blistering sun along tracks that shimmered and hazed with the heat, Corel had blipped into her view. And Corel meant Barrett, and Barret meant loud laughing, hair ruffling, name-calling, sailor-suit wearing, and lots to take Yuffie's mind off less pleasant things. She took off at a sprint, streaking past any stupid monster that tried to get in her way with a blown raspberry and a flip of the bird. Her legs never stopped pumping, giant booted feet never stopped slapping against the rickety, splintering tracks until she stood, panting a bit and sweating a lot, on the outskirts of the slowly rebuilding mining town.

She stuffed her hands as deep into her shorts pockets as they could go, as she sauntered into town. The shinobi knew she'd have to control her sticky fingers within _these_ city walls—Barrett would kick her ass from Corel to the Northern Crater if he found out that she'd stolen from his citizens. Not that she'd get _caught_, but sometimes it was better to remain on the side of safety.

She didn't have to wander for long, as she soon heard the familiar booming voice over the chatter of the other people out and about.

"AN' KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF FOOL! ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANNA KEEP 'EM ATTACHED! Tryin' to touch my baby… I'll shoot him in the nuts next time…"

Winding through the crowd, she located her dark friend glaring at the retreating figure of a young boy while Marlene, now fourteen, looked on exasperatedly.

"Dad…he's just a friend, and we weren't even doing anyth—"

"MARLENE! I don' wanna hear it! Jus' get your ass back inside an'…an'… just go!" The girl sighed and walked inside with her head hanging and a frown on her face.

"Geez Marshmallow, I haven't heard you that strict in a while. What did that poor kid ever do to you?" She grinned as Barrett whirled gracelessly to meet her eyes.

"Brat! What're you doin' on my turf?" His tone was gruff, but his eyes were warm. Saving the world time and time again tended to create a bond between comrades that wasn't easily broken.

"Oh, ya know… back to my usual marauding. I actually came to see if your shops had any good materia…_thatIwasfullyintendingtopayfordontworry!_" It was a little eerie how easily she could slip into her joking façade, cheeriness replacing gloom.

The big man mock-glared at her before his gaze melted into its warmth again. "Come here, Yuffs…" he mumbled, pulling her into a tight hug. It made her think of what she always thought a father _should_ be like. It hurt a little, but felt right at the same time. Yuffie was going to miss Barrett hugs. Her friend drew away from her and led her into his house where they sat down for some catching up.

"Things've been goin' real well….real, real well. The mining's been damn good, and it's nice goin' back to our roots… goin' back to the way things were before Shin-Ra. An' it's good, an' it's _right_." Barrett was full to bursting with pride as he talking about the reconstruction, the new additions to the community, the economic boom as coal returned to being a primary energy source. It made Yuffie happy too, to see her friend so happy in spite of everything that had been thrown at him recently. Tifa had been like a sister to Barrett, his closest sister.

Yuffie settled back in her chair with an uncharacteristically small smile. "Well, I finally got chocobo-head outta his office. He's probably still a zombie but… it's a start." Suddenly, a thought struck the Wutaiian girl. "Ohmygawd! Can you imagine what Cloud would be like if he actually _was_ a zombie? Like, take his already zombie-like state even before…what happened, then add in the zombieness after it happened and then add in true zombie on top of that! He'd like… die…and stuff." It was a grossly inappropriate comment, but that was just how Yuffie operated under stress.

Barrett even chuckled a bit. "Yeah… he always was different. I 'spose I probly shouldn'ta bailed out when I did, but I didn' know what else I _could_ do. I couldn't be around that…place anymore." He shuddered. Yuffie shrugged.

"None of us could, _except_ for Cloud and you know that was just to torture himself. You could just sorta…feel the death clinging to it… like a leech."

The two comrades drifted into pensive silence. It was a rare moment that the oldest (excluding Vincent) and youngest member of AVALANCHE were together and truly silent, yet it happened from time to time.

The lull picked back up after a short time and Barrett again inquired as to why Yuffie was visiting.

"Oh, I'm just looking for…something." Her face was a bit too grave for Barrett's tastes.

"An' what exactly is this somethin'?" He frowned a bit at some of the possibilities.

She grinned again, putting off a nonchalant air. "You know what, Barrett? I don't quite know myself… I will when I find it though! I should actually probably get going at some point to keep hunting for it…"

In the end, Barrett managed to convince her to spend the night, and Yuffie holed up in the extra bed in Marlene's room. The fourteen-year old filled Yuffie in on all the latest teen gossip about town, and even admitted what was _really_ going on with the boy from earlier.

"He really, _really_ likes me… that's no secret. But the thing is…I like his older brother!" She confessed in a hushed tone. "The problem is though…he's twenty!" She giggled at Yuffie's shocked face, before it sank back into a lazy grin.

"Going for the older men, eh, Marly? Where'd you learn that inappropriate behavior?"

A sly smile wound across Marlene's face. "I learned it from _you_, Aunt Yuffie…where else?"

"_Me?!?_ When did I _ever_ let on about liking older men?" Not that it wasn't true but details…

The younger girl scoffed. "Aunt Yuffie, _everybody_ knows you have a thing for Uncle Vincent. And he's what like…near seventy by this point?"

Yuffie's jaw snapped open. "I do NOT have a thing for Vinnie! I mean… I _did_, but not anymore! _Not anymore! _And that is the end of this discussion!" She flipped the light off and balled up under the covers with a frown on her face.

"Whatever you say, Auntie…whatever you say…" She could almost hear Marlene's smirk in the darkness.

With the inky darkness came the nightmares. Yuffie stood on the edge, teetering, about to fall into the green gush of Lifestream below. In her hands was a traditional Wutaiian dagger. She pointed it towards herself. The dagger was about to pierce flesh and then

She jerked awake.

That was the fourth time she'd dreamed of her sacrifice this week. Goddamned morbid mind.

* * *

It was as she was leaving Barrett's house the next morning, feeling cranky and upset, that she saw it. The shock of red hair that could only signify one person's presence. Reno. He had seen her first, however.

"Fancy seeing you here, Princess." He smirked in usual Reno fashion. He was forever smirking.

"Stalking me Turkey?" She jutted one hip to the side and cocked her head with a grin.

"You know it, yo. You make much better company than the office assholes. Maybe not better _looking_, but a whole lot more entertaining." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Puh-leez, Turkey. You couldn't get anything sexier than this ninja. I mean… really, they don't come more flexible than me." She raised an eyebrow suggestively. Reno seemed to ponder for a moment and then he wiggled his own eyebrows in response.

"I'm up for it if you are, Princess."

Again she stuck her tongue out and smacked him on the arm. "Oh, _gross_ Turkey! I was just kidding! Haven't I already told you, I don't want your skanky, man-whore germs!"

And she really had been kidding. Reno was good for a flirt here and there, innocent, friendly flirting. Because, really? Did she want to get attached to someone like _that_ before she had to go and off herself? Certainly not. And especially not Reno—he was a nice guy, and a good friend… but not Yuffie's type at all.

"So…other than stalking me, what brings you to these parts? I would've thought Corel would be a little… country for your tastes."

The redhead plastered a look of shock across his features. "And who says I don't like the country, Princess? Sure, the music sucks… but the scenery can be relaxing. And I never turn down a blonde in cowgirl boots and cutoffs."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Ew. Gross. So did NOT need to know. And excuse me? _Cowgirl boots?_ What the fuck?"

"Well, not everyone can pull off the size 24, neon lace-ups, Yuffster. Of course, not everyone has legs thirty miles long like you either."

Again, Yuffie rolled her eyes, but deep inside she thought she heard the bubbling of a small, giddy voice. Strange. "Oh stop Red, your pick-up lines are wounding my self-esteem. Thirty miles long? That just makes me sound like a bean pole, not the ultra-sexy ninja I am. And ohbytheway, you never told me why you're actually here."

As it turned out, Barrett would provide the answer for her.

"RED! Finally, you're late man! Get yo' slow ass in here so we can begin negotiations!" His face had appeared in his doorframe, and it disappeared just as suddenly.

Reno's aqua eyes reverted back to Yuffie's face. "Negotiations with the man about town. All about incorporating more coal into Midgar. Seeing as it's finally started coming back as an energy source. And while I'd love to stay and chat about how your legs make up for the rest of you, Princess, I've got responsibilities. Later, babe." And with a smirk and a wink, he disappeared after Barrett leaving Yuffie a little mystified. All she knew was that he'd complimented her legs…and somehow insulted the rest of her. She shrugged it off and strolled out of the small city's limits.

Once she hit open grass, she just kept running, running, _running_. Maybe if she didn't stop until she reached Cosmo, her fatalistic thoughts wouldn't be able to catch her.

At least, that's what she hoped.

* * *

(AN: I'm not dead! Yay! Anyway, this story is officially back from the death that was induced thanks to school. Thanks to all my reviewers so far (your names will be at the end of next chapter i swear, I'm just in a bit of a hurry), and to anyone else who's decided to read this, reviews are always welcome as is con crit so don't be shy!! And I apologize for any typos, I don't have a beta other than my roommate who's busy in the corner right now, and I really wanted to get this posted.)


	4. Fevered

Disclaimer: Don't Own Anything 

* * *

It was a quiet night, and Yuffie was still tossing and turning in her bedroll. Despite her plan to make it Cosmo Canyon with one full day of running, three days had passed and she was still sleeping in her tent halfway between Corel and the Canyon. Some kind of fever had managed to battering-ram its way through her usually undefeatable immune system and now she was flip-flopping between shivering so hard her teeth hurt and sweating out her entire body mass.

"I wonder… what would happen…if I died before finding the thing… and not anywhere near… open Lifestream… Tif probly wouldn't come back and then Cloud would go off himself and then Vincent would too out of remorse for his comrades and then Cid would too cuz they're BFFs for life and then Shera would 'cause she wouldn't want to raise Cid's potty mouthed kids alone and then Barrett would just because like…coal would be all depleted and stuff and then Denzel and Marlene would have to get together and make babies and repopulate the world with awesome people because everyone would be dead. Except Red, but he'd be too busy doing scholarly, researchful things to even notice we all died." Yuffie had taken up the habit of talking to herself. "That would totally _suck_."

The night passed slowly and agonizingly. She really should have been used to it at this point, as it had been going on for the past two nights, but the illness in her body was painful and just _horrible_. Yuffie hated being sick. She eventually drifted into a fitful sleep, and morning found her, panting outside of her bedroll in nothing but a bra, panties and one striped sock. Her body had finally decided to stick to the heat, and she felt like her skin was crisping over. Through her sweaty delirium, she heard whistling. And then, she heard a tap on the canvas or her tent. And _then_ she heard the one voice she _so_ did not want to hear when all she was wearing was her underwear. Reno.

"Princeeeeesssssss….oh Princess! Wakey-wakey…"

"Shut the fuck up, and leave me alone!" The ninja managed to rasp out. Against her commands, the Turk decided to do the exact opposite, and unzipped the front of her tent to peer in.

"You sound terrible, Princess…" He took in her appearance with his trademark smirk. "You look smokin' though."

Yuffie was not in the mood. "Oh gag me! I am smoking… smoking and burning up from the inside out! So if you don't have any water than just leave me here to die in peace!" She rolled onto her side and curled up protectively.

The man surveyed her with a curious glance. "You sick, Yuffs?"

"Why the fuck do you think I'm lying here sweating and sounding like an old man prostitute who's given way too many blowjobs? _Of course_ I'm sick, or I'd be in Cosmo like I planned!"

"Oh? And what would you know about blowjobs, Princess?"

"Reno. I will cut your penis off if you don't shut it and give me some water."

And finally, like the nice guy that was buried somewhere within his smoke-filled chest and corroded heart (at least that's how Yuffie chose to see it in her fevered moments); Reno drew a bottle of water from his pack, unscrewed it and tipped it up over Yuffie's lips. She gulped at it greedily, and looked up at him with pleading eyes when she had emptied the bottle.

"Nuh-uh. No more until we start sweating out this fever. Get in your bedroll."

"But…but I don't wannaaaaaa!" Yuffie whined outwardly as she cringed inwardly at the thought of adding more heat to her body.

"Do it. Or do I have to make you?" Reno was fully inside her tent now, and before she knew it she was in his arms as he unzipped her sleeping bag before gently placing her inside and zipping her in tight.

When she thrashed, he held her down. When she bit at the fingers securing her, he held them steady, even when blood began to seep from between her clenched teeth. When she begged for water, he'd brush her hair back and slowly dribble it between her lips, between those same teeth that had left their marks on the fingers now quenching their thirst. The hours passed and neither slept, Yuffie due to the flames coiling and thrashing within her and Reno to stop the strong-willed woman from slicing her way out of her sleeping bag.

It was around ten that night when Yuffie's fever finally broke. She grew still in her bedroll as her hair lay damp and sticky around her face. Her eyes glistened in the dark as she looked at Reno, lips slightly parted and a slight sigh of breath escaping between them. He ran a hand through her hair as he gave her a few more sips of water, trying to ignore the way she looked. It looked as though she were basking in the afterglow of sex and it almost unnerved him to suddenly be thinking those kinds of thoughts about the petite ninja. He was a man, after all, and he knew all the ways she could bend and what he exactly he could do to her if he had those long legs of hers wrapped around his waist. He was jerked from his lusting reverie by a hand squeezing his.

"Thank you, Reno." It was whispered once, and then she was asleep.

* * *

Yuffie woke from her first truly restful sleep in a week to the smell of pancakes burning and the sun blinding her through her open tent flap. With a slight groan she sat up and wriggled out of her sleeping bag. She scrounged for a clean pair of clothes before stepping out into the bright morning. The sight in front of her almost made her laugh, except she was a bit confused by it.

Reno was crouched in front of a small campfire with a pan in hand and trying (failing) to flip the two pancakes cooking (burning) inside. Muttered curses hissed from between his teeth and Yuffie couldn't hold the giggles in any longer.

"What are you _doing_, Turkey?"

He turned an icy glare on her. "What the fuck does it look like I'm doing? Trying to make breakfast before we starve out here."

The young woman sighed and shoved him out of the way. "Is your insane hair like, taking over your brain or something? They're burned already so just let me do this."

Five minutes and way too much syrup later, the unlikely duo were cringing their way through the burnt pancakes and making little conversation. Unsurprisingly, it was Yuffie who broke the silence.

"What are you even doing out here?"

"Looking for you, of course." Reno winked. "Barrett called Red after two days to see if you'd gotten there, and when you hadn't he was going to come looking for you. I didn't have anything better to do once I reported to Rufus, and I'm sick of hanging around HQ just watching everyone make gaga eyes at each other."

Yuffie was surprised. She had thought Reno's little fit in the Mines might've just been man PMS. "That bad?"

"That bad." He was solemn.

"Geeeeez! I am so sorry, Turkey… that sounds almost as bad as the one Christmas that Vinnie ditched me to brood and be emo in his mansion, and I was stuck with Cid and Shera, and Barrett and whoever he was dating then and Cloud and…Tif."

There was always that short pause before anyone said the martial artist's name, almost as if they weren't sure whether to remember her and deal with the pain or erase her from the memory and continue on happily oblivious.

Yuffie's eyes dimmed and then brightened. "Gawd, that was AWFUL… it just kept reminding me of how I have no one. I mean, if Vincent was there it wouldn't have been that much better, but I could've at least pestered him until he threatened to shoot me. Instead I was stuck with a group of people who were more preoccupied at ending up under the mistletoe together than actually….like having a party."

Reno grimaced along with her. "Sounds like the office… I walked in to report to Tseng once and I swear to Leviathan, I never needed to hear sounds like that in my entire life. I still have nightmares."

Yuffie shuddered along with him before laughing. "OhmyGAWD! Most awkward moment of my _life_! I go to visit at the bar, and the whole downstairs is empty which I probably should've taken as a warning but no, me and my nosey self, I wander upstairs 'cause I had big news for Tif, I forget what it was now but anyway, I hear like…. shuffling in the other room so I go to investigate and…and…and…Cloud and Tifa…" Her eyes were wide as saucers as she choked the words out. "…sixty-nine, Turkey. It was disturbing. I'll never forget it for the rest of my life."

Reno cracked up as she finished her tale, his snickering growing louder as a memory struck him. "Princess, I had to get a new desk last year. Not because I had done anything bad to my old one or because it broke or anything but I walked in on… Rude and Elena, doggy-style, _on top _of it."

"What the fuck! Couldn't they use his desk?!" Yuffie was extremely horrified and insanely amused at the same time.

"Apparently not! I was traumatized for months and I made Rude pay for the new desk."

Yuffie gave him a skeptical look. "How do I know you didn't deserve that, Fire Top? I mean… everybody knows you've had many sexploits yourself."

Reno scoffed at that. "Silly Yuff. When I take a woman home, I _romance_ her." He winked at the end.

"Ha! Yeah, you romance them for one night and then what? Go to the doctor and get checked for gonorrhea?"

Reno sighed and just shook his head. "Shouldn't you be thanking me for putting up with your scrawny ass last night instead of calling me a manwhore?"

"I thanked you last night, and _you_ should be thankful that you even got a 'thank you'!"

"You make no sense."

"Life's more fun that way. And I fully intend to live my life having fun and making no sense _whatsoever_!" _Seeing as I don't have much time left anyway._ Yuffie's eyes grew wide as that hit her. It had been the first time she'd thought about her sacrifice since Reno had arrived. It made her almost grateful for him, at least he provided a nice distraction, no matter how obnoxiously flirtatious he was.

"Weirdo. Anyway…what business you got in Cosmo, Princess?" His drawling voice removed the ninja from her reverie.

"Well…I needed to get out of Edge I guess, so I'm making the rounds, seeing everyone… ya know. It's been a couple weeks and I think we all need a little comfort with each other when we can get it. If that…makes sense?"

"It does. Doesn't explain what you're looking for though."

"What?"

"Barrett told me."

"Oh…" Yuffie flushed, a little unsure of how to respond. "I told him I didn't really know what it was. Just feeling a pull to find _something_. One last adventure, ya know?" A sly glint entered into her stormy eyes. "You aren't gonna offer to come with me, are you? Trying to escape the office for even longer?"

"Are you inviting me?"

"Are you saying you wanna come?"

"If it's gonna be more entertaining than the office."

And for some reason, Yuffie found herself saying yes. Yes, Reno could come with her on her suicide mission, only she left that part out. Part of it was sympathy. Yuffie knew what it was like to be surrounded by happy couples; even though Vinnie and his obsession with a dead chick didn't count as happy it had still killed her spirits when she used to have a thing for him. The other part of it was a bit selfish. Reno did a damn good job of distracting her from the morbid thoughts, and Yuffie couldn't deal with that mindset for much longer or she'd go crazy. So even if he drove her near insane with his jokes and suggestive comments, he kept her sane on a more serious level. Yuffie needed that sanity.

* * *

Half a day later, the Turk and Ninja pair found themselves on the outskirts of the great Canyon. Red was pacing at the entrance and a wolfish smile appeared on his face when he saw the two of them.

"There you are! I was beginning to think you weren't planning on showing up at all." Yuffie dropped her bags in the dust and sprinted up the stairs to wrap her friend in a tight hug, burying her face in his mane.

"Of course I'd show up! You're only one of my bestest buddies, _ever_! I'd never bail on you Red!" He chuckled in her ear as she let him go.

"I've got a room all set up for you, facing the sunrise. I know it's your favorite." Yuffie smiled, blinking back a sudden rush of emotion. She loved her friends. She was going to miss them.

Red XIII was suddenly hesitant. "Only…I wasn't expecting Reno to be with you, so you'll have to share until we can get a room set up for him as well."

Reno chose that moment to reach the top of the stairs. "Sweet! We can share a room and have nasty, kinky sex all night long, Princess!!"

Even as Yuffie punched him in the arm and stomped on his foot, she knew she'd even miss the loudmouth Turk as well.

* * *

(AN: This chapter was quite a process…. It took me maybe a week to plan in my head, and then try and write and then it changed completely from what it was originally going to be. But that's alright. And for some reason I LOVE the whole sexual undertones of the first part, which wasn't planned at all. It was a nice, unexpected bit XD Anyway! On to reviewers! Thanks so much to: **strawberrysodapop, Darkened-Skys, koalababay, starbrightdreamer, and Kaikai PANTS**!!! Keep it up, I love hearing from all of you! XD And I apologize for any typos….Lo siento.)


	5. Burning

Disclaimer: So…. I don't own anything. Sadly.

* * *

Cosmo Canyon was peaceful. If there was anywhere Yuffie ever wanted to go when she needed a good meditation, Cosmo would be the spot. Or the cliffs of Da Chao. She was currently sitting atop one of the highest cliffs she could climb, gazing down through the darkness towards the flickering glow of the bonfire. Everything was quiet except for the subtle whirring of machines as Red worked in Bugenhagen's old lab and the muffled murmur of the few people still out among the darkened paths of the village. Her eyes stayed steady on the orange heat far below her as she thought. She didn't think of her mother, she didn't think of Aeris or Tifa or the people who she would be leaving behind. She didn't think of the actual sacrifice either. Yuffie simply watched the flames dancing and thought about people in general.

They could be so cold and shut off. Conversely, there were those people who were just warm and inviting and genuinely _good_. And then you had all sorts of people in between, or people who could flip-flop back and forth between the two. Yuffie wondered what kind of person she was in other peoples' point of view. What presence would she leave behind?

So engrossed was she in her thoughts that the ninja almost didn't hear the scuffling of someone climbing up to her loft spot. _Almost_. After a minute or two, a familiar head of hair popped up in her line of vision and Reno sat his lanky form next to her and followed her gaze to the fire.

"How did you get up here, Carrot Top?" Her eyes didn't leave the flickering heat.

"Same way you did," he replied with a languid shrug. "Just maybe not as gracefully."

She smirked, allowing that. A peaceful silence descended between the two.

"_Bonfires are funny, aren't they? They make you remember all sorts of things." _

"I miss traveling with AVALANCHE." The words were in her mouth and rolling of her tongue before Yuffie could stop them. Reno didn't look at her, but his nod was enough for her to continue. "I miss the…_feel_ of it. I miss being sixteen and young and stupid and thinking I could take on the world. I miss the group we used to be. Shiva, I miss kicking the shit out of you and Rude. I just…miss it." She paused and looked at the redhead next to her. "I think that's the most honest I've been with anyone in weeks."

"Why with me?" They still didn't feel the need to make eye contact.

"Who else is there to talk to?"

"The stars."

Her gaze flickered to his face, searching for any trace of sarcasm or mockery. She found none, but couldn't bring her eyes back to the fire.

"Stars don't listen. They just burn. But sometimes people don't listen either…they can burn just as bright and as painfully as stars. Sometimes even I just want to world to burn."

Reno had a feeling he was on the edge of a breakthrough with the ninja-princess next to him. Yuffie had a feeling she was beginning to get in over her head with the potent Turk. Her flight instincts were kicking in.

Finally, Reno met her gaze. Her eyes were clouded over and closed off but the question was already on her lips. "What are you looking for?"

In a second she was on her feet and vaulting off the cliff in a gracefully practiced arc, leaving Reno mystified and alone. As she spun and flew through the air, always flying never falling, she whispered the answer.

"What doesn't burn when everything else is turned to ash."

* * *

Yuffie was curled on her side and breathing slowly and steadily when Reno entered the bedroom they'd be sharing while at Cosmo. Deep asleep. Reno had stayed seated on the cliff for a while longer after her sudden departure, thinking about the odd exchange they'd had. He blamed it on the atmosphere of the Canyon. Especially at night with the bonfire alight, it kind of made you want to spill your guts—even if you were a trained assassin or a stubbornly masked ninja.

As he slid in next to her, he thought that she might be one of the strongest people he'd ever met. Not only had she been forced to deal with the death of her mother and the defacing of her country at a very young age before taking on a life of marauding and solitude, but she had also lost two of her best friends within the course of five years. And she still managed to smile and be happy through everything. Reno guessed that a lot of it was faked though.

Reno didn't know when over the years the Turks and AVALANCHE had become good friends, but somehow it had happened. His last thought before drifting off toward slumber was that he was glad to have the petite shinobi as a friend. Her pensive face from atop the cliff was burned onto the back of his eyelids as he dreamt through the night.

Yuffie dreamt and saw fire and smiled softly.

* * *

The next morning found Yuffie and Reno having a quiet breakfast with Red XIII.

"Obviously, you know that you're welcome to stay as long as you want," Red began, "But do you have any idea how long that will be?"

Yuffie pondered a moment, chewing on a bite of apple. A bit of juice dribbled over her bottom lip and down her chin before she swiped it away. Reno noted this and began to feel overly observant of his friend.

"Ya know, Red? I'm not quite sure. It's so peaceful here, but you know me. I'll be wanting to settle down one moment and then something shiny catches my eye and I take off after it."

Red chuckled, not willing to deny that, although his laugh echoed more like a growl from the depths of his throat.

"Mainly," Yuffie continued, "I'm just making the rounds and seeing how everyone is. I've missed everyone, and you _all SUCK at keeping in contact!!_"

Red grinned wolfishly. "I think mainly everyone's been busy. I know I've been busy, trying to sort out this whole new section of grandfather's library. I finally managed to find a translation tablet deep in the caves and it's opened up so many new areas of research for myself and the scholars who come to visit."

"That's so cool!" Yuffie's eyes were bright with happiness for her friend, who nodded.

"It's been nice to keep busy and have a distraction from…what happened." And still, everyone continued with that hesitation before anyone brought up Tifa's death, Yuffie noted again with a twinge of sadness pulling at the corner of her mind.

Reno listened to this interaction and felt like a bit of an outsider. Sure, he was friends with both Yuffie and Red, although her was closer to the ninja by a long shot simply from living in the same city and seeing her at the Seventh Heaven on a rather regular basis. But he hadn't traveled among the rebel group back in the days of Meteor, and he didn't have the bond between comrades that they shared. He maintained that bond with Rude and Tseng and Elena, and Cissnei when she was a part of the Turks, but he lacked it then. With the loss of Tifa, Reno had lost an acquaintance that bordered on solid friendship, but Red and Yuffie had lost a family member. You could see the shared pain mirrored in their eyes as the both lapsed into silence.

Yuffie was lost in her own thoughts. All her friends, minus Cloud, had been busy since Tifa's death…busy creating their own lives. Barrett had his coal, Red had his books, Cid had his wife and city to run and Vincent had…whatever creepy things he had in that mansion of his. Yuffie had a country across the sea, but no incentive to take her place on the throne. And with her decision to carry out Leviathan's Sacrifice, she never would. And yet, however selfish the ninja could be at times, the thought that she would be giving Tifa and Cloud and possibly unborn baby CloTif their lives back made her feel better. It made her feel right.

Red interrupted her pondering. "If you want, there's a section of the library devoted to Wutai and it's history, culture, economy et cetera. Maybe you're bored by all that, but if not, feel free to look through it whenever."

A few hours later, that was just where Yuffie found herself; smack dab in the middle of a huge floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled with every piece of knowledge she could ever hope to know about her country. The shinobi, however, was looking for a very specific book. After a good half hour of searching, including scrambling to the top of a very tall ladder to look on the tippy-top shelf, Yuffie's searching proved to be a success.

She didn't exactly know why she felt the need to read up on a ritual she already knew inside-out, but as Yuffie cradled the dusty copy of _Ancient Wutaiian Rituals of the Royals_ in her lap and scanned over the words describing what she would need to do, and why Leviathan was thought to have created this ritual in the first place, a feeling of calm struck her. There wasn't anything unfamiliar about what she had to do; the only unknown in the equation being the experience of death itself, and she could deal with that.

Dog-earing the page before closing the old tome and grinning as the dust swirled off of it into the humid air of the library—it was always the little things with Yuffie—she jammed it back onto the closest spot near her, too lazy to climb back up to the top and return it to its rightful place. Red would probably kill her if he ever got around to noticing, but she doubted that would happen with all his excitement over his new translation tablet. Satisfied, that the book didn't look out of place, Yuffie scampered off to go pester Reno or maybe see if the materia store had gotten restocked with anything good since yesterday. For someone with death and sacrifice hanging over their head, she was certainly in a better mood about it.

* * *

The night found Yuffie lying awake, having spent the good part of the past two hours trying to coax her body to rest. Next to her, Reno was sleeping like a baby, the tiniest hint of a snore whistling from between his slightly parted lips.

The bed was small, Yuffie realized, and very warm. Maybe that was why she couldn't sleep. Or maybe the fact that Reno had thrashed around for an hour before sinking into a peaceful slumber and she had needed to fight tooth and nail to keep any thread of blanket around her. Figured. Reno_ would_ be a blanket hog. Yuffie also realized that this situation should be awkward. After all, she and Reno weren't dating or married or fuck-buddies. They were simply friends brought together on this weird journey that only one knew where it was leading.

Yuffie's mind kept twisting around one single thought that she had been pondering since her exit from the library earlier that day. Did she tell Reno how her story was going to end? Did she tell him that he should begin thinking what his last words to her were going to be because he was probably going to be the last one to see her alive? Did she let him know she was going to kill herself to bring back her best friend?

After all, it didn't seem fair that he was getting swept along for this crazy ride when he was completely in the dark about the _why_ of it. But at the same time, Yuffie didn't want anyone to know because she didn't want anyone to convince her she was making a mistake and she was stupid and dumb and rash and stubborn to simply throw her life away when she had a country to rule and a people to govern. She had already had enough arguments with herself in the beginning, and she didn't want to have to explain her reasons to someone else.

She was going to do this. Telling Reno would only hinder it, and Yuffie didn't need that. Even if it was unfair to him. He was a Turk and he knew how to overcome shit like that and deal with stuff in the moment when the plan changed. But that made him all the more dangerous. Yuffie suddenly had an image of herself on the edge of a chasm of Lifestream, dagger in hand. Reno was trying to stop her, and she could see in the image conjured by her mind's eye that it was working.

Yuffie was strong though. She'd be able to go through with it. Now that she was committed and over her initial angst, she knew she _had_ to. Tifa deserved better than an early end right before motherhood.

As the ninja began to slip into unconsciousness, she knew she would go through with it. She would do anything for her friends. This sacrifice would be her proof.

* * *

(AN: Thanks so much to my reviewers! **starbrightdreamer, koalababay, Darkened-Skys, Kaikai PANTS and LeRequiem. **You guys are awesome, and your reviews really do help motivate me XD Sorry for the lack of fluff in this but it was kinda necessary. There'll be much more in the next chapter. So drop a review of ya liked it, hated it, have any suggestions and I'll try to get working on the next part. And as always, I apologize for any typos. Til next time...)


	6. Realization

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own a thing. I _wish_ I owned Reno so I could keep him as a sex slave…. But don't tell my boyfriend that x.x

* * *

"You sure you wanna leave?"

Yuffie's face was glowing in the dawn light as she glanced back at Cosmo Canyon. It softened the already oval face and put a subtle sparkle in her almond eyes. Dawn suited her, Reno thought, and again realized how overly observant of the ninja he was becoming. He tried to convince himself that he was just keeping his observation skills sharp in case the Turks ever did go back to a more hands-on occupation. In reality, the redhead knew that, deep down, his view of Yuffie had changed since he had stayed awake with her, burning out her fever.

And then her gray eyes were focused on his, clear and innocent and masked and mature and she was throwing him through a loop with her grin. "Not sure, but we should get going. Only thing I'm gonna find here is a lot of old people way too smart for their own good. It's not good for a girl's self-confidence."

If anything, Reno thought as they shouldered their packs and began leaving the mountainous area behind, the young woman sashaying in front of him had too much self-confidence. It took more than a fair share of it to run around in skimpy clothes the way she did, and boots that bright drew enough attention to those mile-long legs that she couldn't possibly be oblivious to the stares from the opposite sex. Hell, Reno himself couldn't help staring, and he had seen his fair share of gorgeous women.

Yuffie was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice Reno's eyes trained on her lithe form. There was a cool breeze blowing across the plains, and she turned her face into it, letting it ruffle her hair and send her bandana ends into a fluttering frenzy. Something had changed around her and she was oddly content with the moment; one minute she was simply walking and the next she was twirling and giggling and grinning at Reno's amused face like a maniac. Another point to her self confidence, he smirked, she didn't care about acting immature, no matter who was watching. She was so free with everything. There was something serene about the two of them together, she spinning and giggling with him just watching, eyes light with some unvoiced emotion and only the expanse of green grass and endless blue sky to surround them.

From its beginning, the moment was bound to be ruined, and yet there was something to be said for ninja reflexes.

One second Yuffie was midway through a spin, laughing as her short hair flew every which way, and the next her lips were thin, her dark eyes narrowed and zeroed in on the basilisk making its way towards the duo. With one last gracefully fatal spin, one long leg even extended artfully, Conformer whistled through the air and decapitated the monster in a simple and clean stroke. As Yuffie caught her weapon, the blades sent droplets of blood to splatter on her face and clothes. An instant later, Conformer was strapped to her back and she was gazing at Reno with those wide eyes of hers. Their innocence was tainted by the blood and the Turk was again reminded that while she may act like a child, she was just as deadly as he was.

Reno was definitely becoming overly observant.

They fell into step with each other, and Reno noticed that she didn't even bother wiping the blood away. "Nice moves, Princess." He smirked.

"Terrible reflexes, Turkey." She winked and blew him a kiss as his expression soured a bit.

"Not my fault your shorts are almost nonexistent and your legs are a nice distraction from your face."

"Touché. But you know you like my face. Why else would you have been staring at me this morning?" Again she was grinning like the Cheshire cat and he was on the verge of frowning. Their mindless banter continued as the strolled across the plains, the sun bright in the sky and the grass pristine and emerald under their feet, only mussed by the breeze. In the back of Yuffie's mind, however, she kept wondering… why _had_ Reno been looking at her like that?

* * *

The trip from Cosmo to the river separating it from Nibel land wasn't long at all, even on foot, and soon the two travelers had reached the river. At its edge, they both stopped, and Yuffie sat down to begin unlacing her boots. When that task was accomplished, instead of beginning to cross as Reno had thought she might, she simply dropped her feet in the water, splashing higher up her legs and flecking Reno's shoes with its spray.

He saw water on her legs and blood on her face, and in one smooth motion he had dipped his hand in the cool liquid and was wiping the blood from her cheeks. She held still and closed her eyes and even leaned into his touch, just a bit.

"Tell me about your parents." It wasn't a demand, but it certainly wasn't a question either and Reno almost laughed at her straightforward manner. Her eyes were still closed and his hand was still on her cheek until he reclaimed it so he could sit too. He was quiet for a while, and Yuffie almost thought he might not answer, but then his lips parted and the words were out with a tiny hint of wistfulness she almost didn't hear.

"I never knew them."

"Never?"

"Never." His voice lost its thoughtful tone. "I lived in an orphanage until I was about seven and then I took off outta there. I ended up joining a bunch of kids living the slum life and grew up with them 'til I was sixteen. Then it was the gang life for me, until we got in trouble with the Shin-Ra. Tseng's father, who was in charge of the Turks at that point, saw something in me… a ruthlessness probably, and he recruited me. I was eighteen then, and that's been my life ever since. I never found out what happened to the other guys in my gang. Except Rude, but we all knew he'd end up doing something big. He was too smart to not end up living a professional life."

Yuffie lay back, seemingly impressed with his short tale. She whistled a bit. "Wow…that's almost as cool as my childhood!"

Reno scoffed and shot her a disbelieving look. "What could _possibly_ be cooler than running away at seven years old and joining a fucking gang and then getting recruited to become one of the deadliest assassins Gaia has ever seen?"

Yuffie's eyes were closed again and she smiled a smug little smile. "Reno baby, I got to fight in the Wutai-Shin-Ra War, when I was the same age as you when you were still slumming around with other grubby kids. By age nine I was a fully fledged ninja off on my own, exploring the world and stealing from the rich AND poor to give to myself. Then I got to join AVALANCHE and kick your 'deadliest-assassin-ever-look-at-me-I'm-so-cool' ass multiple times. Oh yeah, and take out Sephiroth. _AND_, I've been dodging assassin attacks since I was four. So there." She stuck out her tongue with eyelids still closed lazily.

"I could've killed you." The words were out before Reno had time to think about them, and Yuffie's eyes were open and scanning his for some sort of emotion.

"Doubtful." Except she really did believe him and he knew it too.

"You wouldn't have gone down easy, even as a little kid… I'll give you that one. But I could've gotten you." There was almost a sense of challenge laced into his statement and Yuffie was on her feet in a flash, Conformer at the ready. The rusty spots from the basilisk gave a realistic edge to its deadly gleam.

"Spar?" She grinned, and there was a threat in it.

Reno stood slowly and sighed. "Yuffs, we're friends now… not enemies. Let's just keep going to Nibelheim."

The hostile gleam slowly dimmed in Yuffie's eyes and she nodded, smiling genuinely as she put her shuriken away. Reno was mainly focused on the twinging in his chest when he had said "friends." What was _wrong_ with him?!

* * *

The two waded across the river with no sense of elegance or refinement whatsoever, Yuffie spending half the time flinging water into Reno's face and up his nose and his retaliations involved shoving her down into the shallow water. By the time they emerged neither looked much better than a drowned cat, and Yuffie was doubled over laughing at Reno, herself and the situation.

As she held her sides, giggles erupting from her throat and tumbling from her lips, a thought crossed her mind causing the breath to be knocked out of her and her laughter to suddenly cease.

She didn't want this moment to end. This happy, silly and completely ridiculous moment spent with her favorite Turk (although she'd never admit it to anyone). But not only that, she didn't want to give up this joy for life she had. And she was going to.

"_An' what happened to the tough girl I used to know? Where'd she go to?" _

At this point Reno was looking at her funny and Yuffie was already gaining back her determination. She gave her wet hair a shake in Reno's direction and laughed as he recoiled.

"Let's go, Turkey! We have to make sure Broody hasn't locked himself up in his stupid coffin again!" She grabbed his hand and took off at a run, dragging him behind her. She felt calm again, serene and back to normal. Running helped. Reno helped. She would be fine.

She slowed as they reached Nibelheim. Yuffie didn't care how long ago it had burned and been rebuilt, the place still gave her the major creeps. Even though it was filled with normal people instead of actors nowadays, she could remember walking through with Cloud and Tifa, and having everyone call her friends crazy for what they knew had happened.

The mansion was in sight as soon as they stepped foot inside the town, sitting in all its gloom on the farthest edge of town, looming and creaky. Yuffie and Reno made their way towards it, and as they got closer, it was obvious that some work had been done on at least the outside of the huge house. The condition wasn't as dilapidated, the roof wasn't caving in or missing in places anymore and the paint job actually looked somewhat fresh. It had definitely been too long since Yuffie had been in Nibelheim.

As they strode through the gate, the ninja noticed that that too had been replaced with a functioning one that wasn't falling off its hinges. _What_ the hell was going on here?

Yuffie rolled her eyes as they reached the door and saw the large brass knocker, and even Reno had the scoff a bit. It was some sort of gothic monster, classic Vincent embodied in a doorknocker.

"Aren't doorknockers supposed to make you _want_ to knock?" Reno asked her. "Like…maybe make you want to come in and socialize instead being afraid it's gonna bite your hand off?"

Yuffie just shrugged. "It's _Vincent_ we're talking about… his sense of décor is a little…morbidly warped." She then proceeded to knock about twelve times in a row, wait two seconds and knock ten more times.

"Calm down! The doorknocker might eat your soul or something!" Reno muttered to her and she giggled quietly.

"Nah, you're taller, it'd go for you first."

"It'd go for me first 'cause I'm sexier, Princess. Let's not mix up our priorities."

Yuffie was in the process of rolling her eyes and jabbing the lanky man with her elbow, when the door finally opened to reveal a cautious-looking Vincent Valentine.

"VINNIE!!!" Yuffie screeched and hurled herself at him, much to his discomfort. Reno felt another pang somewhere in his chest and restrained the urge to growl.

Vincent, on the other hand, just looked uncomfortable. He stood straight as a rod while Yuffie continued to squeeze his waist, going on about how toned he felt and how he must've been working out every day to try and attract the ladies of Nibelheim. He and Reno locked eyes, Reno's expressionless, Vincent's questioning. When Yuffie finally decided to let go of the gunslinger, he courteously invited them in, still looking uncomfortable all the while.

"This is a surprise." He stated when they had all gotten situated in the living room. Yuffie was a little awed to note that the repaired condition of the outside of the mansion continued over into the inside. The furniture was all new and plush, but still with that rustic and elegant "Vinnie-Feel" as she called it. The stairs were no longer crumbling, the old, fraying rugs had been replaced with new ones in muted tones. Something or someone had created a change in the uncaring man she used to know.

"Well, you know me, VincentVinnieChops! I've just been making the rounds and seeing how everyone is. I mean, it's been a couple weeks and I needed to get out of Edge and I missed everybody except for stupid broody Cloud, so I decided to come see broody you instead. And I got real sick along the way and Reno took care of me, and _he_ needs an adventure too and he's pretty good company most of the time when he isn't checking out my legs and almost getting us almost killed by basilisks, so now he's along for the ride with me."

"I see." Was the only response Yuffie got, and she sighed.

"So…how have you been? Obviously fixing stuff up a lot."

"I've been well. And yes, I thought it was probably time to…make a few changes." There was a strange edge to his voice and an odd look came into his eyes when he said that. Yuffie recognized it as…happiness? From _Vincent Valentine?!?_ This could only mean one thing:

"You've got a lady friend!" She shrieked, and her eyes were wide and Reno was watching it all with a smirk of amusement dancing along his mouth. Vincent became even more stiff if that was possible and stayed silent. "Who _IS_ she?" Yuffie continued to rant. A shuffling came from the room behind her, and she watched Vincent's gaze flicker up to something over her shoulder and then away. But it was enough. Yuffie turned and—to her horror—gazed upon the woman, if she could even be classified as that, in the doorway.

Shelke.

Suddenly, Yuffie remembered late nights of ranting about and making fun of Shelke with Tifa, who had hated the girl just as much as Yuffie; and Tifa had _never_ hated anyone other than Sephiroth in her entire life. The machine-like girl had spurned Tifa's attempts at kindness time and time again, so it was no surprise the barmaid had eventually taken a strong disliking towards her.

Yuffie's expression was murderous as she turned back to glare at Vincent. "You've been shacking up…. WITH _HER?!?_" Reno's hand was on her arm attempting to calm her, as she jumped up from her seat on the stupid, new, Shelke-influenced couch. "TIFA FUCKING _HATED_ SHELKE AND THREE WEEKS AFTER SHE _DIES_ YOU THINK IT'S FINE AND DANDY TO FUCKING MOVE IN WITH HER AND FUCK HER AND DO WHATEVER OTHER FREAKY THINGS YOU MUST DO TOGETHER?!? YOU THINK THAT'S EVEN _REMOTELY OKAY?!_"

Vincent's face remained blank except for a tightening around his eyes as Yuffie said Tifa's name. It didn't pass her eagle eyesight unnoticed. "Oh, _please_, Vincent. Don't even try to look like you actually give a damn that she died. You never fucking cared about any of us, did you? That's why you left Edge as soon as possible after the funeral." She grabbed her pack from the floor and flung it onto her back with a fury that came from pent-up hatred towards the girl still standing silently behind her. "This is the last _fucking_ time you're ever gonna hear from me. Just go back to your happy fucking life, fucking robot-chick over here in a coffin or something." And she stormed out, breaking into a sprint as soon as she hit the center of town and heading for the mountains.

All she could see was the look of happiness in Vincent's eyes and Shelke standing behind her and was she really mad because Tifa had hated her or was she pissed because one more of her friends was moving on with their lives while she would never get a chance to and she didn't want to know and oh god she was crying, crying, crying tears of ice as snow began to whip along the mountainside.

Back inside the mansion, as Reno turned to follow, Vincent motioned like he wanted the Turk to stay, like he wanted to explain. Reno just shook his head. "I'm not involved in this. But from what I just heard… you made a dick move, Valentine."

As soon as he was outside those doors, Reno had to sprint like his life depended on it, just to keep Yuffie in his sight.

"Slow the FUCK down or you're gonna fall off the goddamn mountain!" He yelled after her, and finally she heeded his words, collapsing at the mouth of a cave. It was only once Reno caught up to her, that he realized she was crying. Without a word, he tugged her up onto his back, and carried her into the cave where at least she could cry without the tears freezing on her face.

As soon as they were both out of the wind, she had wriggled out of her arms and was screaming at the top of her lungs. Half the words were in Wutaiian, and Reno was pretty sure he didn't want to know what she was saying, based off of the sentences he _could_ understand. Her anger was worse than the blizzard that was picking up outside on the mountain, her voice louder than the wind and echoing within the caves inner chambers.

""HE'S SUCH AND ARROGANT PRICK AND HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT TIFA OR ME OR ANY OF US! ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS HIMSELF AND HE CAN GO FUCK THAT TWELVE YEAR OLD FOR ALL I CARE AND I HOPE WHAT I SAID _HURT HIM AND I HOPE IT ROTS HIM FROM THE INSIDE OUT! TIFA WOULDN'T FORGIVE HIM EITHER!!_" Only that was a lie, and they both knew it. Tifa may have hated Shelke, but she wouldn't have taken it out on Vincent. Yuffie, however, wasn't done with her ranting. "IT'S LIKE HE'S DISEASING HER MEMORY GODDAMMIT! AND I HATE HIM AND—"

And Reno had had enough.

And Yuffie was still screaming.

And he had to make her shut up because he was sick of hearing Valentine's name on her lips because he realized they were more than friends and as childish as it sounded he more than _likedher_likedher and holy fuck how had he fallen in love with the petite obnoxious ninja so fast and he wanted her to stop talking about Valentine.

And in one quick moment Reno grasped Yuffie by the shoulders and pressed his lips to hers and finallyfinallyfinally, she went still. The moment seemed to go on forever, and again Yuffie thought she didn't want it to end. And gently, very gently, Reno coaxed open her mouth to deeper their kiss.

When Yuffie surfaced, it felt like days had passed and hell, maybe they had. One thing was blatantly clear after that first kiss though, and it froze Yuffie to her core even as she looked at Reno with soft eyes. It was like everything that had happened between herself and Reno over the past week had been pointing out the answer so obviously, and she had been too stupid to notice. He was it. He was the one.

As he kissed her again, not out a necessity but out of desire, because he felt it too…only he had no idea what the weight of that feeling meant. As their mouths crushed together and her hands gripped his shirt pulling him flush against her and he picked her up to hold her against the wall so she wouldn't have to stand on tiptoe, Yuffie tried to think about losing Reno and all of a sudden she thought she was already dying.

They broke apart, Yuffie sliding down the wall as Reno took a step back, and just watched each other.

_He had taken care of her when she was sick and wiped the blood off her face and tried to keep her calm and carried her and talked to her about the stars and his parents and he offered to go looking for her and maybe he came with her because of her not to get away from the office and those nights sleeping side-by-side at Cosmo weren't awkward but were comfortable and ohgodohgodohgodhewastheoneohgod._

"I think…" Yuffie began before trailing off.

Reno just nodded. "I know."

And as they started a fire and rolled out their sleeping bags to settle down until the blizzard passed, one single thought kept running through Yuffie's head.

'_FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuck.' _

She was in love with Reno. Of all people. And she was officially and royally screwed.

* * *

(AN: This is by FAR my favorite chapter, along with being the longest and also the easiest to write. I really hope all you readers don't think that it's too soon for them to get together, because I couldn't hold off any longer and it just sort of felt _right_. And plus, I always have this mindset that Reno and Yuffie have kind of this reckless attraction that doesn't need tons of time for justification. ANYWAY! Thanks go out to my _awesome_ reviewers: **jennie300303, Darkened-Skys, koalababay, Kaikai PANTS, and Jillian Leonhart!!! Also to my cousin starbrightdreamer**, I know you tried to review, even if it didn't work. Anyhoo,you guys rock major socks and thanks so much! See? I TOLD you reviews help, I even had a quick update for once XD)


	7. Freefall

It had been three days and, in Yuffie's opinion, not much had changed. She and Reno were still holed up in the cave, stuck on Mount Nibel until the blizzard passed. Things weren't looking good, as the blizzard had picked up momentum, rather than dying down.

More importantly however, even after that momentous night, things between the travelers were still so…_normal_. Reno still made his lewd comments about her legs and lack of chest, or which ways he could bend her in naked wrestling. And of course, Yuffie still stomped on his foot or smacked him upside the head after every remark, screeching at the top of her lungs while enjoying his pained expression as her voice echoed gratingly.

The Turk—her Turk, she grinned—was currently out trying to battle his way through the storm to hopefully find some viable firewood. The duo had resorted to burning food leftovers and any scrap of cloth they could possibly spare. It was currently nighttime, chilly inside the cave, and they had nothing to start a fire with. Life had gotten a little more miserable, and a lot more bleak when Yuffie though about the newly changed decision she had to make.

"Leviathan, you really are a jerk, ya know that? I bet you _knew_ this was gonna happen. Not only am I gonna lose any future I had with my country, but I'm gonna lose Reno too!" The ninja sighed… "Yeah… you're a meanie alright. 'Cause you know what's even funnier? If I had fallen for him under normal circumstances, I would've had to give up my country anyway… If I chose to be with him that is. And… as much as I'd like to tell you to shove your sacred rituals up your ass… I… I can't do that to Cloud. Or Teef."

The gloom was going to set in again. It was drafty. The surrounding walls gave no sense of comfort in the darkness, and no sense of familiarity, even though Yuffie had been staring at their stone faces for days.

There was a slight scuffling to her left. Reno was back.

"Nothing to find, Princess. Sorry." He threw himself down next to her, or tried to at least. In the dark he overshot it and ended up in the indignant ninja's lap.

"ACK! Reno! Do you mind? And _Gawd,_ you're heavy!"

"Sorry…again." He shifted off of her and then pulled her into his lap.

"You're tired." It wasn't a question.

"Well, tramping through five-billion mile-an-hour winds isn't my idea of an easy workout, babe."

Yuffie peered at his face through the darkness. "Then go to sleep, dummy. I can keep watch tonight. Although… if a mighty Turk can't get through this wind, I doubt much else can."

She could hear his palm scratching over stubble as he rubbed his face. "We don't need to keep watch. If I'm sleeping, you're sleeping with me."

"Reno, we've been through this. Just because you shoved your tongue down my throat doesn't mean—"

"Yuff? Shut up and get in my bedroll."

"Ooh, bossy….I like that! What's next, talking dirty?" She was overdoing the teasing, but she still got up and felt around for the bedroll, fumbling as she unrolled it.

"Since when has it been your job to be the inappropriate one?" Reno's voice was amused, as much as he tried to hide it.

"Since you became the cranky one." She stuck her tongue out as she climbed into the warm sleeping bag and he squished in next to her.

"Pfft. Reno the Awesome does not get cranky."

"You did that one time I stole your hair gel and replaced it with Jell-O."

"My hair was fucking sticky for a week after that!"

"Oh sue me. Do you know how long it took me to get the Jell-O in that stupid bottle? And I had to make two batches 'cause Marlene made me spill the first one. AND I didn't even get to videotape your face when you realized what it was 'cause—" And then Yuffie was too preoccupied with Reno's lips to remember what she had been talking about in the first place.

Nothing had changed… and everything had changed.

* * *

Morning found the Ninja-Turk twosome rather hungry, rather grumpy and still facing a snowstorm.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!"

"Yuffie—"

The ninja whirled to face him. "Reno, I fucking miss Wutai. It's warm there. It's sunny. We don't have to put up with any of this bullshit snow AND we have food. And fire. And everything awesome and Wutaiian and amazing and homey and I'mgonnastartcryingifIdon'tstoprightnow."

"What was that last part?"

"Nothing." She slumped against the wall and slid down into a seated position. It scraped against her back and stung a little bit too. Good. At least that meant she could still feel. Reno sauntered over to her and sat down.

"At least I didn't end up in your lap this time." He elbowed her lightheartedly. A small huff of air escaped as an attempt at laughter.

"Do you think I was too harsh on Vincent?" Reno's eyes narrowed a bit.

"I think…" _'Think objectively Reno. Not jealously.'_ "Maybe you were, Yuffs."

"But…Reno, it's _Shelke_. Robot-chick. She's twelve!"

"I dunno, Yuffs. Still… you gotta think about it in terms of importance. Vincent's your friend. He's happy with her…I have no idea _how_, but he is." Yuffie giggled a little. "Just…I guess if you wanna look at it morbidly, think about if you were gonna die tomorrow or something. Would you really want to have lost a friend over his choice in a girlfriend? Except this is Vince, so he probably refers to her as his _lover_ or something sappy like that. He's gonna be the one putting up with her, not you, and—"

Reno kept talking, but Yuffie's mind was stuck, like a CD skipping.

"_Think about if you were gonna die tomorrow or something."_

'Well, maybe not tomorrow, but maybe in a week or two. No sense in dawdling seeing as I've found the thing.'

Reno had stopped speaking and his eyes were currently tracing the shape of Yuffie's face, carefully memorizing. She was deep in thought about something, and had been spacing out like this occasionally, ever since he'd joined her. It wasn't often, but it was enough for him to notice.

"Snap outta it, Princess." His voice seemed to break her reverie. She looked at him with wide eyes, and Reno could've sworn he saw a sputter of sadness in her glance.

"Just thinkin', Turkey." Yuffie flashed a grin she didn't feel, and reached up to pinch his cheek. "Worry about me?"

"All the time." His answer threw her for a loop.

"Huh?" Ever the eloquent one, Yuffie was.

"I think I've worried about you since I met you. Not in an affectionate way at first, just in general. You're so free. I used to think you were too free."

Yuffie frowned slightly, a little offended. "There's no such thing as 'too free.'"

"Oh yes there is." The voice next to her was chillingly serious. "People like you… they get hurt and they fall and they think their freedom will catch them. In the end, it doesn't. They hit the ground and they shatter. I've seen it." His voice dropped to a mumble. "That's why I came. I don't know what you're looking for Yuffie, but I worry that you just might find it."

His words fell like stones in the bottom of a lake, dead and cold and unfeeling. Yuffie worried her bottom lip between her teeth and ice filled her insides.

"Where'd all this maturity come from?"

"Someone I care about is scaring the shit out of me." Reno's words did little to thaw her, but the lips on hers helped. It was strange that words so frigid could form in a mouth so gentle, roll off of a tongue so warm. It was frightening that the hands that left flaming trails on her skin could leave others lifeless and cold at the pull of a trigger. Yuffie's hands were no cleaner, her manner no more innocent and maybe they were perfect for each other in just that way.

They were both so much the same around each other, and yet so different inside; Reno torn up by a nagging worry that maybe this journey would end badly, and Yuffie rotting with the knowledge of just what she would have to give up. It wasn't just about her anymore, it was about Reno. But it was also about Cloud and Tifa and the baby and her country and too many things to sort out in the time she had left.

Their passion was reckless, their feelings quick to consume and maybe too fast to make sense to other people. It was cold in the cave but they were warm together as clothes were shed and hands wandered and Yuffie fought back tears at losing a future of this ardor with him.

"_Strength without determination means nothing. And determination without strength is equally useless."_

* * *

Several hours later, Yuffie woke to silence. She was wrapped in a warm pair of arms and an equally warm bedroll and as she moved, a tugging on her scalp hinted at extremely tight knots in her short hair.

But it was dead silent. No shrieking wind or splintering ice…just quiet, pure and feathery.

She shifted slightly, eyes still shut tight against the brightness attempting to invade their sleepy depths. As she turned, Reno's arm snaked around her waist, pulling her flush against his torso.

After the maturity he displayed earlier, Reno's first words of the day were unexpected. "I always knew you could bend better than anyone else."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!!" Her tangled hair whipped around her face as she sat up and glared at the redhead beside her. The death stare would've been more potent if she wasn't squinting against the blinding light or fighting off the shivers as the air hit her rather naked body.

A throaty chuckle erupted from between Reno's lips, and Yuffie felt a tightening in her stomach as she remembered just what had gone on a few hours previous.

"That's really the first thing you're going to say to me, Reno? _Really?_ I am _sooo_ taking your materia once this journey's over."

Still chuckling, he sat up beside her and put his hands on either side of her face. "Mm… how about this? Yuffie…" his teasing eyes dimmed to a more serious glimmer. "I love you. I have no idea _how_ it even happened so quickly, but I haven't been this sure about something in a very long time."

The ninja smiled from her mouth to her toes to her eyeballs, her face childishly innocent and centuries wise at the same time. "I know, Turkey. You're pretty bad at hiding stuff from me."

He smirked at her, ever the cocky Turk. "Not trying to hide anything, Princess."

Yuffie pecked him quickly on the cheek before scrambling out of the bedroll and beginning the hunt for a clean(er) set of clothes. It wasn't until they were both fully dressed before the silence truly hit them.

"_Ohmygawd!_ The blizzard stopped! Reno, we can finally get out of this hell-hole!" And then she was spinning frenziedly, locked in Reno's arms and they were both cackling, ecstatic to finally see the sun's smile and leave their dank cave's gloom behind.

The trek over the mountain proved to be difficult, thanks to the influx of snow that had occurred over the past four days. Not much talking passed between the pair of travelers; they simply struggled to wade through the snow and took down the occasional monster. It was a trip that should have taken no more than a half-day, but by the time Yuffie and Reno reached the down slope, the sun was suspended low in the sky, casting crimson and mango streaks across the snow.

"Wanna just run from here?" Yuffie grinned wearily at her worn partner.

"How can you think about running through this mess, babe? Knowing you, you'll trip over something." Reno scraped a hand over his chin and winced at how stubbly his face was becoming.

Yuffie turned to face the snowy path ahead of her. Her eyes were narrowed and steely as a barely-there smile twisted across her lips. "It's almost as freeing as flying."

She took off sprinting.

Reno cursed as the lithe woman careened away from him, each bound sending her toward a precarious situation. And he was going to fucking _follow her_. Yuffie was making him go insane, this was pure proof.

Yards ahead of him, Yuffie was panting and laughing and lost in the thrill. She had a huge challenge ahead of her, but right now it was just her and the air, breathing and living and flying and falling and free. Being with Reno had given her the same thrill.

The Turk tearing down the mountain behind her was beginning to understand her feelings of freedom. At this speed, you knew if you fell it would hurt like hell, but that mattered least of all. Ripping pain would be worth it for this feeling. This was how Yuffie lived, and Reno was just beginning to grasp it.

The fall was eventually going to occur.

One second, Yuffie was between strides, wind-tears streaming from her eyes and a giggle bubbling over her chin. The next, her foot had caught on something beneath the snow and she was sent into a tumbling fall, crashing against sharp stones and hardened roots and finally skidding to a stop at the foot of the mountain, seeing double with a trickle of something sticky and warm trailing across her temple.

Reno had been right. The fall would shatter her. Not this fall, but the one for him. She felt his hands, so familiar now, pushing her damp hair back from her face as she began to fade to black.

Would he be forever taking care of her? Maybe not for much longer.

* * *

She had come to a warm place. Her aching back was cushioned by something plush and soft. A scratching above her ears gave away that fact that her head was bandaged and the smell of tea coming from somewhere to her left confirmed that she was at Cid's house. She sat up quickly, a grin spreading over her features despite the spinning of her vision and throbbing of her head.

"CID! GET YOUR UGLY ASS IN HERE!"

At her cry, Reno started awake from his uncomfortable slumber in the chair next to Yuffie's bed.

"Yuffie, sit the fuck back in bed!" He yelled more out of shock than anything else, before adding, "...And how are you feeling?"

Her response was cut off by Cid barreling into the small room.

"Brat! You finally woke your lazy ass up!"

"Shut up, old man! I am so totally _not_ lazy! You're the one sitting around drinking tea all day."

"Fuck off, girlie. I've earned my laziness."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever helps ya sleep at night."

The two sized each other up for another moment before they broke into equally happy grins. Cid grunted a bit as Yuffie threw herself into his stomach, squeezing him in a hug. He managed to wheeze out a chuckle. "You're still the same stupid brat."

"And you're still the same cranky old man." They broke apart and Cid scratched his head.

"So you're shackin' up with this one, huh?" He jerked his head in Reno's direction. "Never thought I'd see the day Yuffs, always thought you'd end up with Brood or something." Reno glared at him.

Yuffie wrapped her arms around Reno's waist to calm him down. "Nah, Vincent's too broody. Plus he's with…" An inner debate to tell Cid about Shelke took place in about .2567 seconds. "He's with someone else. And on top of that, I'm not interested."

"Well… that's all good and well then but," Cid's icewater eyes zeroed in on Reno's face. "You hurt her, Turk… You'll wish you'd never lived. Venus Gospel will be so far up your—"

Yuffie's horrified screech interrupted Cid's attempt at intimidation. "EW! Grossness! He gets it Cid, and he's not going to hurt me. I seem to hurt myself enough as is, Reno just ends up cleaning the mess."

The tense air in the room faded, and Cid drew Yuffie out to the kitchen for some tea. Reno decided to catch up on sleep in the bed that she had been recuperating in, which gave the two comrades some time alone to catch up.

"So you're just making the rounds, huh?"

"Yup. Staying in Edge was suffocating me, so I decided to visit everybody. After this we're heading to Wutai and then we'll probably go back to Edge. I dunno what happens after that though. Where's Shera, by the way?"

"She's in bed. The baby's due any day now, but she's so big she can hardly waddle around anymore. So I made her get in bed."

"That's so exciting though! Are you ready to be a dad, do you think?"

"Kid… I have no fucking clue how to be a dad. Mine was shittier than I can tell ya, but… I _want_ to be one. I think that's what's most important."

Yuffie smiled. "Well… Godo definitely wanted to be a father, but I think he wanted a son more than anything else. He got over that complex eventually though…" She paused to take a sip of warm tea. "You'll be an awesome dad, Cid."

"As long as my kids don't turn out like you. Then I might drown their sorry asses."

"Excuse me?! You'll be _lucky_ if they turn out like me! Gorgeous and awesome and ninja-like! Just make sure to tone down that potty-mouth of yours so Shera doesn't go insane with all the cursing flying around."

They both chuckled quietly, conscious of their sleeping partners behind closed doors.

Cid's next question was a little unexpected. "Yuffie… Why Reno? How the fuck did that happen?"

The young woman pondered over another gulp of tea. "Ya know what, Cid? I think we were both looking for something…and we found it in each other. We both needed to get away from the suffocation of Edge and breathe and travel and find adventure. I was being suffocated by what happened with…Tif. He was being choked by the office life. He's helped me try to move on and I've shown him how to breathe again."

Cid nodded, eyes understanding. "It was always there with you two. You always were flirtin' like some fuckin' lovesick teens. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised."

"Nah… I was surprised too. These past three weeks have been weird."

"You've changed a lot, kid. You're… more steely. It's all over your face."

Yuffie frowned into her mug. He was right, and she hadn't realized, but hearing it from someone else's mouth, it was rather evident. Through everything, her determination had barely wavered. Godo would be proud of her. Or pissed about what she was doing, but maybe proud as well.

Since she was a small girl, Yuffie had always had a fierce determination, from not getting caught stealing candy from her cousins to trying to destroy Shin-Ra in the war. This journey had strengthened her determination, however. Never before had she needed to fight so hard against herself; that was where the change must have originated. It takes great will and strength to fight so hard against your very nature, especially when that nature is just as resolute. The journey had already bred an irrevocable transformation in the extent of her drive, and Yuffie was going to need it.

Not too long after, Cid turned in for the night, creaking down the hall towards his and Shera's bedroom. Yuffie stayed up a little later to wash and put away their mugs, before heading into the guest room to get some more sleep herself.

"You're late." Reno mumbled as she snuggled in next to him.

"Just catching up. Lots to discuss." She replied through a yawn.

"I missed you." He nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck.

"You're cute when you're half-asleep, Turkey."

"You're sexy all the time."

She giggled quietly. "Goodnight, Reno.

"'Night, Yuffs."

"I love you too, by the way."

"I know."

When morning came, Yuffie would have to find her determination all over again. Right then, however, she simply succumbed to affection for the man next to her, and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

(AN: I'm alive again! YAY! AP's are finally over, and the school year is winding down so I really hope to be updating more… even though I say that all the time and it never happens. ANYHOO, Thanks again to my awesome reviewers, your input is always appreciated: **starbrightdreamer, koalababay, jennie300303, Kaikai PANTS, Darkened-Skys, Jillian Leonhart, Polkaspot Pajamas, strawberrysodapop and JingYee! **Also, a special thanks to **Jillian** **Leonhart **for letting me know the real backstory of the Turks, even though I'll probably still make up my own every time I write a new fic, it's good information to know XD. Liked it? Hated it? Drop a review!)


	8. Perspective

Reno and Yuffie had only been in Rocketown for two uneventful days before all Hell broke loose in the best possible way. The sun was looming high in the early afternoon sky and the two travelers were playing a game of poker when a cry rang out from the general direction of Cid and Shera's bedroom.

"I see your five and I raise you two."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Gawd, Reno do you even know how to—"

Her taunt was cut off by a loud yelp from the back of the house and then, "CID! Get me to the hospital, NOW!"

A blurred tornado of Cid Highwind blew past the kitchen and down the back hall. Yuffie cocked her head as she snuck a few chips into her pocket. "You don't think… OHMYGAWD! SHERA'S IN LABOR!" Reno's eyes looked about ready to bug out of his head.

"Well…what should we do?"

Yuffie scrambled back from the table. "We get her to a doctor, idiot!" The ninja and Turk fell in close behind Cid as he ushered a waddling Shera out the door and down the dirt road.

"Shouldn't he be driving her to a hospital or something, yo?" Reno's brow was furrowed.

Yuffie shook her head. "Rocketown doesn't have one. They've got a few medics who deliver all the babies and take care of everyone. It's not a big enough to really need some huge hospital like Edge. But anyway, come on! Shera's toddling faster than us at this point! I don't wanna miss the baby!" Reno smirked as she sprinted off to catch up—not that she had that much distance to make up with her quicksilver speed.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Yuffie was torn between fascination and sympathy pain as she watched Shera's hunched form from the back corner of the small medical room. The worry present in Cid's features that he tried so hard to mask behind soothing words peppered with curses placed a tiny smile on the ninja's face. Reno wasn't in the room out of a self-imposed awkwardness at seeing _that much_ of Cid's wife. Yuffie doubted Shera would've actually cared in her labored (literally) state.

Seeing Cid in a caretaking role was one major part of the petite girl's rapture. It was a rare and rather odd moment that one saw the pilot as anything other than, well, abrasive. The love she saw between he and his mechanic wife was enough to melt Yuffie's sometimes-cynical heart. It was visible in the vice-like grip Shera had on her husband's hand; white-knuckled in its quest for support. It was obvious in the calming circles Cid rubbed on his wife's back; offering all the support in the world to his pained wife. The pilot would probably gag an entire pot of tea back up if he knew Yuffie's thoughts, but she kept smiling the most miniscule smile she could manage.

It was a long labor, stretching for over twenty hours. Cid's face began to look haggard with worry and Yuffie wondered if Reno was awake in the waiting room or even still waiting there at all. Years of living with Cid seemed to pay off for Shera, as she managed to snarl out some of his more colorful phrases that Yuffie had only ever been privileged enough to hear once or twice. Her grip on his hand never lessened and Shera's screams only grew louder over the doctor's instructions to push. And then, finally, the baby was born; wailing, bloody, and very obviously a boy. Yuffie slipped quietly from the room to give the new parents some alone time.

Reno was sleeping in the waiting room, head tilted back and the slightest of snores echoing from the back of his throat. Yuffie decided to wake him up in the gentlest of manners… a hard jab to the arm.

"Wha—? Wha's goin' on?" He blinked his eyes behind mussed bangs, and Yuffie had to resist the urge to "Aww" at his sleepy cuteness.

"The baby was born, Reno! You should've seen it, he was all bloody and screaming like he was being murdered and he's definitely got Cid's eyes! It was… kind of magical to see…" Her brow furrowed as she trailed off. It had definitely been a special moment to witness, Yuffie realized. Life coming into existence, created by two people who loved each other so completely. They would put all their efforts into loving and caring for and raising their son for the next eighteen plus years, and possibly have other children to love and raise along the way. It was the commitment of a lifetime, and one that seemed to come so easily with the child's very first breath.

It was something Yuffie would never get to experience.

The realization knocked the wind out of her and she felt tears spring to her eyes. She faintly heard Cid announce with fatherly pride that they had chosen the name Shane Daniel Highwind for their son, but she felt a practiced grin spring to her face as she danced around with exaggerated happiness. She vaguely watched Cid return to the room where Shera was resting, and felt Reno pulling on her arm, drawing her out of the medical center and back towards the house. But as soon as the fresh air hit her face, Yuffie was off running, her arm stinging a bit where it had wrenched from Reno's grip. She didn't even realize where she was careening towards, but she heard clanging metal under her boots and suddenly she was teetering on the edge of the ramp leading to where the rocket used to crookedly rest.

Her reflexes were good enough to stop her from tumbling off the edge to her probable death, and as her backside hit the metal underneath her, Yuffie realized she was crying. Heart-wrenching, ragged sobs ripped from her chest and mucus streamed down her face, mixing with the saltwater.

Yuffie had never really thought too much about having children of her own, but seeing Shera give birth had hit her with a realization, harsh like a wrecking ball. Never would Yuffie get to see wide gray eyes with a look of childlike love, innocent and pure. Never would she show chubby fingers how to pilfer materia from the pockets of unsuspecting victims. She would never teach little Yuffies or Renos to throw stars or kunai or backflip off the side of a building. She was going to die, to kill herself, before any of that could ever happen… and it felt like some piece inside of her was tearing apart, like it had when she realized how she really felt about the cocky Turk she now traveled with.

A rhythmic clanking behind her gave away Reno's approach, but Yuffie didn't really come to her senses until she felt his hand rubbing her back and saw his muddy black shoes appear next to her bright boots.

"You okay, kid?" His voice was low and rough and worried and Yuffie knew that he knew something was up. Yuffie knew that Reno now knew she'd been hiding something from him this whole time. But instead of coming clean, she did what she was best at. Yuffie lied.

"Just… Just thinking about Tif. How she would've had her baby by now too." The tears started again for real, because that hurt too, and as much as Yuffie would've liked to hate Shera for being selfish and unfeeling towards her and Cloud, she couldn't. Tifa had died, but life had to go on. All but hers. Yuffie was resigned to that fact.

She turned to the Turk with bloodshot eyes. "Can we leave tonight? I wanna get to Wutai and see Godo and I'm not sure how much longer I can stay here without... hurting."

To Reno's credit, he didn't try to tell her she was being irrational or raining on Shera's parade or even try to cheer her up with words. He simply agreed that yes, they could leave, wrapped an arm around the ninja at his side and let her cry herself out, even ignoring the snot she leaked all over his shirt. He still couldn't shake the feeling that Yuffie wasn't telling him the whole truth, however, and that worried him.

"_It feels like… It feels like you're going far away…"_

* * *

While things were bittersweet in Rocketown, Red XIII was in a rather peaceful state back in the library of Cosmo Canyon. He was spending his time relaxing and making sure everything was organized in the massive room. It had been some time since he had come in the make sure all his books were properly in order, and Yuffie _had_ visited not too long ago which meant an inspection might be necessary.

That was how Red came to find himself in the Wutaiian history section, and came to realize that something was indeed out of its usual place: _Ancient Wutaiian Rituals of the Royals. _

'Yuffie must have flipped through it when she was here last,' he thought and then noticed, to his chagrin, that she had dog-eared a page. First of all, Red found the term a bit offensive, but he also hated having his pages folded and crinkled and messy. When he flipped to the page to fix it, his eyes widened in surprise.

Reno had mentioned Yuffie was looking for something along her journey but…surely not this. Not the resurrection ritual. She had said she was just making the rounds and visiting everyone… _for the last time possibly_. Red had filled in the blank.

He was off in a dash of orange fur and flame, scrambling for his PHS and punching in Cloud's number on speed dial. If Yuffie was going to resurrect anyone it was going to be Tifa, and the person who that affected most directly was the brooding swordsman.

"Strife, do you have any idea what Yuffie is up to?!"

Cloud sounded annoyed. "She's off to gather Wutaiian ceremonial stuff, she said. She told me she knew how to bring Tifa back."

"Did she tell you how exactly she planned to do that?!" Red was nearly growling at Cloud's nonchalance.

"No, but I—"

"She's going to kill herself, Cloud. A life for a life. Sacrifice."

* * *

**AN: **The plot thickens! First of all, I apologize for the lateness of this. May ended up being a much crazier month than I though and June was super depressing for me so I really had no incentive to write. Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so short but all of you who are still reading this definitely deserve _something_, so here it is. Thanks go out to my lovely reviewers: **GothKid12, MrsGosh-Chan, Le Requiem, Darkened, koalababay, Kaikai PANTS, starbrightdreamer, JingYee, and Jillian Leonhart! **I really hope you're all still out there and caring about this fic. I'm not gonna promise a quick update, because every time I do it never happens so maybe some reverse psychology will help, eh? And, as always, sorry for any typos. Til Next time…

~Bru

PS: I've got a little game for you guys. In the past three chapters and in this one too, there's a quote from VII the game in italics. Lemme know who you think said what and you win…. Brownies! And I'll throw in a Reno or Yuffie plushie depending on which way you swing ;) I'll be keeping this up for the remainder of the fic.


	9. Broken

A sense of guilt clung to the back of Yuffie's mind as she and Reno left Rocketown without saying goodbye to Cid and Shera and the baby, but she tried to ignore it as the town shrank into the distance. Reno had his arm draped around her shoulders, lazy and protective at the same time. Somewhere ahead of them, Yuffie could smell the salt and sea foam wafting off the ocean. Something clenched inside her, and an ache rippled through her chest. Wutai was calling for her, drawing her home. Even if she had wanted her feet to turn around, Yuffie wasn't sure the appendages would heed her. The pull was too strong, too potent; this was the goodbye Yuffie needed most. She was going to bid farewell to her country, her people, her mountains, her rivers, her monsters, her buildings, her Pagoda and, hardest of all, her father.

"Have you ever met Godo?" Yuffie inquired, peeking at her companion out of the corner of her eye.

Reno paled slightly under his tattoos. "Am I going to? I'm not sure I qualify as an appropriate suitor for the Princess of Wutai."

"Oh, not at all," Yuffie quipped through a grin. "But I don't exactly act like a princess should, so I doubt anyone's expecting me to wind up with an orthodox suitor. But anyway, I was just wondering. We probably won't see him at all."

One copper eyebrow rose slowly. "You don't wanna see your good old dad? How long have you been away, Yuff?"

She couldn't explain it to him. How she wanted to see Godo so badly, just to look at the wizened face and granite eyes and hear his cackle and feel the odd relationship they had just one last time. There was no way of knowing if she could get away from her father without him seeing through her façade, without him finding out her plan.

"A while. Probably too long by the standards of people who have normal families."

Reno squeezed her shoulder and the duo fell silent. Yuffie listened to the wind bringing her the scents of home, and the shuffle of their feet through the grass bringing them closer and closer to the end. Reno still had no real idea what was waiting for them and Yuffie felt like a terrible person for keeping him in the dark. She didn't want the pity though, and the talking her out of it. She simply wanted to keep the dynamic they had; the joking and laughter, the smirks and sidelong glances, the kisses and late nights. Yuffie didn't want all that to come crashing down.

But it was about to.

They set up camp not too far from the dock where the boat to Wutai would arrive early the next morning. Once their campfire was up and blazing, Yuffie turned her back to it and gazed out towards the ocean. The stars hovering near the horizon looked almost like the lights of Wutai, so she just pretended they were.

"If you could change anything in your life, what would it be?" The ninja didn't look at Reno as she asked her question, even though she felt his eyes on her; she kept hers trained on the flickering lights over the inky water.

"Well…shit, lots of things probably. You've heard how Turk life is."

"Hmm…"

"Why? What would you change?"

"I think… I would've met you sooner…when you were a little kid. Not really possible to change, but I would've liked to." Yuffie nodded as a small smile the redhead couldn't see began playing over her features.

Reno was skeptical. "I dunno, babe… I wasn't the nicest kid around."

"S'not the point, Turkey. And besides, I was a terror when I was little. I think Godo nearly killed himself thinking I would be Lady of Wutai someday. Too bad Mom died before she could give him some real material to work with…" And Reno was beside her then, punching Yuffie in the arm.

"Shut up, Yuffs. You're gonna be awesome! Just… maybe a bit untraditional. But you've still got that drive to bring Wutai back to its former glory. What did Godo want? Some hoity-toity, priss-pants son to sit around in meetings and agree with whatever everyone else said?"

"…I can't believe you just said hoity-toity."

The Turk snorted. "Shut it, princess. I'll take you out."

Yuffie quirked her head. "Oh yeah? Bring it ginger."

And then Reno tackled her, pinning her down and tickling her sides until Yuffie thought she was going to pass out from laughing. She finally regained her breath, only to kick Reno in the shin and unleash a full out battle. They rolled around like a pair of rough-housing six years-olds, pinching and punching and Yuffie even licked Reno's face to get a rise out of him. Only when his calloused hand slid dangerously high up her thigh did she freeze.

She was pinned to the ground yet again and Reno's lips were mere centimeters from hers, their breath mixing in the silence until Yuffie closed the distance. As always, Yuffie could have stayed kissing him forever. He nipped at her bottom lip sending shivers down her spine as she tangled a hair in the messy ponytail, tugging just enough, running her nails across his scalp. Her eyes were shut tight and yet it was as if she could still see the stars; Yuffie was lost.

A shrill beeping broke the moment. Reno pulled back and cursed under his breath, one low word that made Yuffie shiver all over again. He tugged the PHS from his pocket and gave Yuffie a look that told her to stay right where she was before he answered.

"This better be important, yo."

Whatever the caller said made Reno pay attention; he sat up abruptly and got to his feet, wandering off away from Yuffie, before continuing the conversation. Yuffie was too focused on shaking off the cloud of desire that had fogged up her brain. It wasn't until she saw Reno's rigid posture and heard his phone snap shut that she realized something must be wrong. He still hadn't turned around to come back towards the fire.

After a few tense minutes, Yuffie slowly approached him. "Reno?"

"That was Nanaki."

Yuffie was hesitant to ask, but she plunged ahead anyway. "Is everything…okay?"

He refused to look at her. "Why don't you tell me, Yuffie?" There was ice in his voice and suddenly she understood. She had been discovered. And for once she couldn't find words.

"I… Reno, I—"

He rounded on her suddenly, firelight flickering in his eyes. "Did you ever think about telling me? Or were you just gonna let me fall completely in love with you and then just go off yourself without a second thought? Did you ever think what this would do to _me_?!"

Tears pricked Yuffie's eyes as she tried to explain, "Reno, it was too late before—"

"How could you do this?! You stupid, _selfish _little girl!" He spit the words at her, vitriol pouring from every fiber of his being, but Yuffie was angry too.

"Oh yeah, because sacrificing myself to bring Tifa back is real selfish!"

"What about me!" It was at that moment that Yuffie realized; through his anger, Reno was crying. Tears were slipping from the corner of his beautiful eyes, dripping onto his shirt and he didn't even care enough to wipe them away.

"What would you have me do, Reno? Just keep the fact that I can do something about it to myself and let Cloud be miserable for the rest of his life?" All she wanted to do was wipe the droplets from his eyes and rewind time back to fifteen minutes before.

"So… Strife gets to be happy and I get to be miserable for the rest of my life? That's real fair. Tell me something, did you ever even care? Or was I just someone to keep you company on your fucking suicide mission?"

Something within Yuffie snapped. "DON'T YOU GET IT?! THAT'S THE FUCKING POINT! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU! You were what I was looking for, Reno. You. The thing that if everything else evaporated but you, I could still survive. You. I had to find you and fall in love with you and give my heart to you beyond a doubt, beyond return, to be able to sacrifice myself. Don't think I haven't fought with myself this whole journey! So don't you _dare_ accuse me of not caring, because it's nearly killed me this whole time. Why do you think I broke down in Rocketown? Not because of Tifa, but because I realized I'll never be Shera. I'll never be married to the love of my life; I'll never be a mother. This… This is me. This is all I'll ever be." She gestured to her lithe form, sinuous with youth and trembling with anger and sadness.

"Yuffie… No. It doesn't have to be that way." And then Reno's arms were around her and his head was resting atop hers, and she felt his tears sinking into her hair. Her cheek pressed against his chest, his heart beating in her ear. She could almost hear it breaking.

"Yes, Reno. Yes it does." In her soul, Yuffie knew it.

"No! We can leave, we can go somewhere else and not come back and just disappear. Cloud will find someone else, start a family with someone else and Tifa will be in the Lifestream with Aeris and it'll be fine."

"Reno…" Yuffie pulled back and met his streaming eyes with her own. "If Cloud can find someone else, why can't you?" The words were like a knife into her chest, she didn't _want_ Reno finding anyone else; he was _hers_.

"Because no one else out there is like you, Yuff. No one."

"Don't you see? Cloud felt that for Tifa. What you're going through, he already went through… but he had a child on the way. Their family deserves a second chance."

"What about me? What about us? What happens when you…leave?"

"I spend every day for the rest of your life waiting for you. Then we get our happy ending." She put a hand to his cheek. Reno leaned into it, closing his eyes as if he wished to absorb Yuffie into his very skin. He shook his head.

"This isn't fucking fair. I'm gonna fucking kill Strife myself."

"NO, you will not, Reno. You will not."

There was a beat of silence as they simply stared at each other. Reno broke it, still holding Yuffie tightly to his chest.

"When had you planned to do it?"

The petite woman gulped a breath down. "After Wutai. Behind Da Chao the Lifestream sometimes bubbles up…I was—I am going to do it there."

"When had you planned on telling me?"

"Reno I just…could never find the words.

"When?"

"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY??" She broke away from him and crossed her arms, looking away. "It's kind of hard to tell the love of your life you have to kill yourself."

"Not have to. Want to."

It was her turn to round on him. "Do you honestly think I want any of this?! I never wanted Tifa to die, or Cloud to go depressive or to have this plan nagging at my brain or to have to hurt you like this! Do you think I enjoy breaking you?!"

Reno stiffened. "Turks don't break. Not for anyone."

Yuffie's gaze was measuring. "You're a terrible liar, ya know."

"I'm not lying."

Gray eyes narrowed. "Then walk away." It was a challenge.

There was silence for three heartbeats. Then, as Yuffie watched, Reno walked to their tent, gathered his pack and walked away into the night.

Right before he disappeared into the blackness, Yuffie murmured one last word to him.

"Coward."

_"Of course... I'll come back to you. Even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing that you'll be here." _

* * *

Yuffie was too angry to be seasick on the boat over to Wutai. She held a mug of hot cocoa she had brewed for herself right before the boat docked, but she still hadn't even taken a sip of it. She saw the ceramic cup in her hands, and she saw it hurtling towards the floor. She saw it shatter against the cold metal, splattering hot liquid and she saw herself kneeling in the shards, burning her knees and slicing her hands. Yuffie finally took a sip, keeping her violence on the inside instead.

He had walked away. _Walked away_. Like the fucking coward he was. He was probably banging some whore back in Edge now. In the meantime, Wutai was coming closer. So was death. Yuffie wasn't sure she even cared anymore. Reno had turned around and walked away from her. She had already lost him in one way; a more permanent one couldn't possibly break her any more.

When the boat bumped against the long dock, Yuffie was on her feet in a flash, although her face still remained zombie-like in its anger. She pulled a long traveling cloak from her pack and tugged it over her shoulders, raising the hood. It was a pretty bad disguise compared to Yuffie's usual standards, but she hadn't really planned her entry into Wutai thoroughly, and she had yet to decide whether or not she wanted to see Godo. In the meantime, she wandered through the streets, sticking out like a sore thumb and ended up on the dusty paths of Da Chao.

And then she was five again, and runningrunningrunning, up the paths she had memorized probably when she was in the womb and her mother needed to get away from all her overbearing maids and waiting-women and bodyguards. The cloak billowed out behind her, and she ripped it off and let in fall just to feel the wind rushing through her short locks. She could smell the salt and the sea foam and now the fish; fresh fish, rotting fish, festering fish, cooking fish. She smelled the familiar flowers and trees and sand and dust. She passed the fire caves and felt the heat. She peered down the back of the mountain and saw the Lifestream bubbling and for the first time in what felt like forever, Yuffie grinned.

She really would do anything for her friends.

It was past midnight when she snuck into her father's house. The guards keeping watch were well trained, but Yuffie was better. She had grown up learning to sneak past them after all, and old habits die hard, and she was the Great Ninja Master Yuffie-slash-White Rose of Wutai, and this was child's play for her.

She found herself standing in the doorway of her Godo's sleeping room, eyes gazing softly at his peaceful form. She couldn't have faced him awake, but this was almost harder. In the moonlight falling across his face she could see the absence of worry-lines and she was reminded of the Godo who would take her onto his lap and tell her stories of the great Leviathan, and gently chide her for picking people's pockets, even with laughter behind his eyes. It was a Godo she knew for a very short time, and barely remembered, but it was how she would think of him in death.

With tears dripping silently down her round cheeks, so used to smiling, Yuffie whispered a goodbye to her father. "I love you, daddy."

She turned on her heel and headed towards the hidden room. Not the hidden passageway AVALANCHE had found, but the room where she kept all of her mother's old belongings. She took her time running her warrior hands over the silk kimonos and admiring the glimmering hair pieces and colorful makeups and combs. But she finally found what she was looking for.

The shikoro was beautifully crafted with an elegant handle and wickedly sharp teeth. An image of Leviathan was etched into the blade, bringing a slight smile to Yuffie's face. The sword would do the job perfectly. It was a little longer than Yuffie wanted, but most of the kunai in the room were too blunt and she really didn't want her death to be overly painful. She managed to slide the blade into its casing and then through her belt loop. At the entrance to the room, Yuffie paused.

"Mama… I'll be with you soon. It's been a while, but I think I'm ready."

Without another glance back, Yuffie crept from the room, from the house and back up Da Chao.

* * *

The boat had just pulled out of the dock when Reno gathered his senses and sprinted back towards where he had left Yuffie.

"I walked away… I fucking walked away! What the FUCK was I thinking?!" He hadn't wanted to admit to Yuffie that she really had broken him, and he had gone and fucked things up. Now they were both broken and it was his fault, and Yuffie would be dead by next sunrise if he didn't do something.

Reno had wandered for hours, just thinking, seething, trying to make sense of it all. In the end he had just come to one conclusion. Yuffie was too good of a person for him. She was just _good_ to her very core; so good that she would sacrifice her life for a friend. And he was an asshole for walking away.

But he was going back, only the boat had left. So Reno waited. The hours dragged by, and every second he was just praying to whatever god would listen to him that Yuffie not go through with it. That someone else catch her plan. That Cloud and Nanaki had gotten to Wutai and stopped her already.

When the next boat came, Reno wanted to kiss the captain and when they pulled into Wutai, evening was falling and he sprinted through the town in a frenzy, looking for the tiny ninja. It was now past midnight. Reno headed up towards the towering, carved mountains. Maybe he would catch her on the back of the mountain and be able to stop her before it was too, too late. At least, that was what the Turk was praying for.

Yuffie, on the other hand, was already heading down the back side of Da Chao, towards the pulsing green light of the Lifestream. It was time.

* * *

AN: Blame the Sims 3 for the late update. And college application shit. But mostly the Sims 3. And now, muahahaha for cliffhangers! XD Thanks go out to my lovely reviewers: **JingYee, fringeperson, strawberrysodapop, Naril, MrsGosh-Chan, Darkened-Skys, koalababay, xXSilversilkenwingsXx, GothKid12, starbrightdreamer, Jillian Leonhart, channnboo, and LM22102! **I love you all, you're awesome, keep it up XD

~Bru


	10. Memories

To my beautiful reviewers—you know who you are—this is for you.

* * *

Death is never elegant. This Yuffie knew. She had killed and seen others kill. She had seen monsters and people alike die. She had looked into the eyes of assassins meant for her and watched their lives flee. That might be the only part of death that was at all beautiful. That one quick moment where the life, the _soul _itself faded and the eyes fogged over, glassy and unseeing. Yet it was so haunting, so morbid and cruel that Yuffie cringed at thinking it at all graceful.

The shikoro was long, almost too long with its wickedly sharp teeth gleaming in the emerald aura emitted by the Lifestream. She held the blade out, serrations facing her abdomen. How much more could death really hurt the already shattered shinobi? Reno had already taken his love back; he had ripped it away from her and _left_. Surely nothing could break her worse than losing him. She pressed the shikoro against her taut stomach and felt the teeth bite into her skin. Blood began to trickle and she closed her eyes to remember.

_Gray eyes opened in a round face, still chubby with baby fat. Yuffie looked around her, confused; the Wutaiian landscape was familiar of course, and yet out of place. She could've sworn she had been sitting down to tea with her mother just a moment ago. The concerned faces hovering above her worried the four year old, only…she didn't know why. She only knew that one face was missing from its usual place beside her daddy._

"_Mama? Where's Mama?" _

"_Yuffie-chan, let's get you inside before you catch cold."_

_That was odd. Yuffie had never had a cold in her entire life. Not that that was a very long time but… no one had answered her._

"_Where's Mama? Where?!" Staniv looked upset and Yuffie didn't understand and it worried her and she didn't know what was going on. She sat up, glancing around, panicked. _

"_Mama? _MAMA!!_" And all of a sudden, her daddy struck her with one sharp blow to the face and he wasn't her kind daddy anymore, with his drawn-in face and angry eyes. He was Godo the ruler, the Lord of Wutai and Yuffie still didn't understand. _

"_Your mother is dead. To save you." _

_Yuffie wasn't sure she wanted to understand anymore._

Gray eyes opened to throbbing green. One small tear made its way down a round cheek, but Yuffie swiped it away with the back of her hand. She would be with her Mama again soon; for the first time in over fifteen years. But before that, Yuffie closed her eyes again to remember. Her feet kicked against the cliffside and her hands grasped at the shikoro, one hand curled around the hilt, the other holding the blade farther down and then

_The sandy path slithered beneath Yuffie's boots as she sprinted toward the shell house. She could hear the clanking of boots and fluttering of a cloak behind her; good, she hadn't lost Vinnie. _

"_Vinnie! Spikes is gonna be _so pissed_ that we're late to this meeting!"_

"_It is not my fault we were detained."_

"_Damn straight it's not our fault! How were we supposed to know that trap door was faulty? I mean, really! I go after a little treasure and that's what I end up with? Hours stuck in a tiny room with you?! Sheesh! I should be getting paid for this or something…"She skidded to a halt once inside the giant shell, causing Vincent to nearly bowl her over. "Wow… It's so pretty…" _

_And then they were descending the glimmering staircase, winding downdowndown and the group was waiting for them and Yuffie almost struck a pose only… only…_

"_Aeris? Where's Aeris?" _

_And then the pink in Cloud's arms caught her eye. Pink sickeningly mixed with too much crimson. And Yuffie realized. And then she screamed. And screamed. And it was a while before her screams turned to sobs and her sobs turned to moans of anguish and THEYHADLOSTAERIS. She had lost her surrogate sister._

_No one had to say it for her. Yuffie put two and two together._

'_Aeris is dead. To save you all.' _

Stormy eyes opened to pulsing green and snapped shut again.

_Yuffie heard the cry. The anguish, the hurt, the suffering, the pain. Cloud's pain. And Yuffie understood. Tifa was not waking up. Evereverever. Her beautiful garnet eyes would never again shine with laughter, her graceful, delicate hands would never again cup her own blushing cheeks. Her arms would never again hug Yuffie's sobbing form; her friendship would never again wash over the young ninja._

_Yuffie was the last woman standing in AVALANCHE. She felt like she was breaking into pieces, shards of Yuffie splitting and shattering and cutting every which way as they flung away from her. _

_And then the jagged pieces jerked back towards her and she was Yuffie again, gasping through tears, but still whole. She had remembered. _

'_Mama…' _

_But did she_

'_Do I really want to do that?'_

_But it was_

'_It matters to Cloud, to all of us'_

_But she had _

'_Tifa has a family'_

_Maybe she_

'_Maybe I can… Sacrifice myself.'_

Steely eyes fluttered open. Yuffie gazed levelly at the Lifestream gushing up in front of her. A wind whipped around the cliff faces, sending her short hair flapping around her face, stinging her cheeks. She felt life pulsing through her veins with every breath, felt blood flowing through her veins with every pump of her heart. She felt her soul breaking, her heart already splintered and cracked when Reno walked away. Yuffie stared down at the blade beginning to slice into her stomach. Her grip tightened. It was time. Yuffie took a deep breath before looking into the emerald depths of the Lifestream once more. Her eyes were glistening although her voice remained strong.

"Don't worry, Tifa. You'll be back soon. I'm taking care of it."

She pressed the blade deeper and felt her blood run.

"_We came... to tell you... our memories..."_

* * *

Reno skidded to a halt at the bottom of the Da Chao. Yuffie was sitting, silhouetted in surging green. He cried out her name in sheer reflex that he wasn't too late.

"YUFFIE!"

The young woman jolted in surprise, already woozy from the pain, thinking—_hoping_— she was dreaming, imagining Reno's drawl, imagining that he had come back for her. Her eyes widened as she turned, tears now coursing freely down her cheeks. Reno was there, looking disheveled and anxious and happy and apologetic and _perfect_. And yet, in all his perfection, he was too late. Yuffie had already torn the skin of her abdomen open, throwing her blade aside as she watched hot crimson spill over her hands.

But now, _now _Reno was with her, he had come back and _Oh Leviathan_ everything hurthurthurt. With a small cry, she struggled to her feet and stumbled over to him as he staggered toward her. His arms enveloped her small form as he realized she had already done it. They fell to the ground on the edge of the cliff in a pile of tragedy and kisses and 'I'm sorry"s.

"Reno! Reno, I'm so sorry, I just—" Her eyes bore into his, sadness and pain radiating from her face.

"Yuffie, my stupid, _stupid_ Yuffie… _I'm_ the one who should be saying sorry, oh Gods you're losing so much blood!" His calloused hands went to her wound to try to put pressure on it, to futilely try to stop the bleeding.

"I g-give it fifteen minutes. A-any last w-words, Turkey?" Yuffie's tongue felt thick and obtrusive in her mouth, and her tears didn't help her speech any. She felt heat on her face, tears from Reno's beautiful eyes. "N-no. No crying. I h-had t-t-to do this. S-so, _stop_." She forced the last word out with ferocity, the familiar spark behind her eyes.

"Yuffs, Princess, it's not a deep cut… If I had some _fucking_ materia! FUCK!" She was draped across his lap, and her tiny waist was stained darkly in the glow of the Lifestream.

"Reno baby, I'm d-dying. You've g-gotta accept it. I'm sorry I have to l-leave…"

The Turk closed his eyes.

"Yuffie… Cloud is on his way with the others. They'll have materia. We'll fix you right up and then, and then you can come live with me and I'll make you breakfast every day for the rest of our lives even if I burn it and you can come into the office with me and we can have sex on Rude's desk to get back at him and Elena and I'll fuck you silly every night only it'll be lovemaking because _I love you._ I can't lose you."

Her eyes grew steely. "NO! Reno, you're not losing me. I'll be waiting for you for every day of the rest of your life." She glanced at her stomach before quickly turning her gaze to his again. "B-besides. Unless they get here in tenish minutes, nobody's healing anybody…"

It was the truth and it was too much. Reno threw back his head and screamed, anguished, to the Gods, to Leviathan, to anyone who would listen. It was wordless and strangled and beautiful in its passion. It wasn't enough, but Yuffie appreciated the meaning.

"Reno…" her voice was a whisper. "Tell me a s-story… please?"

She wanted to recoil from the agony she saw in his eyes, but kept herself composed.

"Yuffie, you are absolutely ridiculous and I love you."

"I love you too…"

Reno sighed and his warm breath hit her face. He leaned down to kiss her, wishing he could force all his anger and hurt and love from his lips into her soul. After several searing moments, he pulled away and Yuffie saw blood on his lips. Her blood. He must've tasted it and not even cared. Yuffie felt her heart swell and _oh Leviathan_, how she loved her stupid, Redheaded, absolutely perfect Turk.

Yuffie took a deep breath and began to speak. She concentrated on not slurring, forcing her tongue to speak the words with clarity. Even though she had asked Reno for the story, it was she who began to tell it.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was a rebel princess, a thief and a friend and she loved easily and she loved big and she was a loudmouth and obnoxious but she loved life and her friends loved her and she loved them. She loved her friends so much; she would do anything for them. And sometimes she looked at the stars and talked to them and sometimes she wanted to burn the world. She helped save the world three times, but couldn't save her best friend from toxemia. She helped save the Planet three times, but couldn't save the love of her life from all the pain in the world. She hated herself and loved him and loved herself and even hated him a little bit for making it so easy to fall in love with him. Because since she couldn't save her best friend from dying, she decided to bring her best friend back, because her best friend was good and kind and graceful and a beautiful soul and was going to have a baby and a family and she had a husband.

"But in order to bring her friend back, the rebel princess, thief, friend was going to have to kill herself. A life for a life. For Leviathan was her patron god, and while he believed in honor and loyalty, he did not always believe in fairness. But the rebel princess decided to go through with it. Because her friend was so good and so kind and so beautiful and she was going to have a baby. Only, killing herself meant the thief was going to have to leave her country, her father, her friends, her life and worst of all the ex-assassin, sexy-suit-wearing Turk she fell in love with. And she didn't know how to tell him because he listened when she talked to stars and cured her fever and burned her breakfast but still tried to make it and he lovedlovedloved her. And she still didn't know how to tell him and then he found out and was angry and broken and didn't wanna admit it and she was broken and upset and he walked away and they were both unhappy and tragic and sad.

"And then he came back, only it was too late because the rebel princess was dumb and thought he was gone forever and had already sliced herself open and she was dying. And she told him this dumb story because she loves him and is going to miss him and _oh Leviathan_, Reno! I fucking love you and it _hurts!_"

Reno took her face in his hands, trying to wipe away the crystalline tears that clung to her bottom lashes. "Shh… it's okay my rebel princess, they're on their way and you'll be fine."

Yuffie shook her head slowly. "No… Reno, I can't feel my legs or my arms. I just feel where you touch me. It's like fire… but so beautiful."

The Turk's eyes tightened as he brought his salty lips softly to Yuffie's pale ones. Her next words hurt and burned and made his heart break and heal all at once.

"Reno… Loving you is like… it's like a cataclysm. It's one huge disaster and it destroys everything in its path and it's so powerful and horribly beautiful but beautiful nonetheless."

Reno chuckled humorlessly. "That's just it, Yuff. That's exactly it."

"Kiss me again. One more time." Her eyes were sad and pained and yet she still looked at him with all the love in the world.

They were dangerously close to toppling into the Lifestream as they shared their last kiss. It was fierce and fiery and passionate and any walls between them crumbled and tears fell and hearts broke and it was new love, all over again. When Reno lifted his lips from Yuffie's she smiled at him, heartbreaking and beautiful. Then, with one last shuddering breath he saw the life ebb from Yuffie's stormy eyes. Reno's head drooped as he choked on tears and pain.

Somehow Yuffie's limp form slipped from his arms into the pulsing Lifestream. Whether it was he letting her go or some other force at work, Reno would never know. Once more he tossed his head back and yelled out in agony.

Yuffie was dead. Reno was tearing into pieces.

* * *

When the men of AVALANCHE crested the back of Da Chao at a sprint, they were shocked into stillness by the sight waiting for them.

Tifa, dripping wet and glowing slightly was kneeling beside a howling Reno. Obscenities poured from his lips as she patted his back, trying to soothe. At their appearance, Tifa glanced up, her eyes burning, searching. Cloud was off like a shot, grabbing her into his arms and squeezing her like she was going to disappear if he let up. He kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her earlobes, her jaw and finallyfinallyfinally her lips.

The rest of AVALANCHE had made their way to their resurrected comrade by this point, and Tifa was passed around, hugged and kissed and hugged some more by all, except Vincent who hung back from everyone.

After a few minutes, the group grew somber and silent. Tifa hadn't smiled once yet.

"Yuffie… How could she…?" Her voice was like music to Cloud, even though it was quiet and uncertain. There was silence for another heartbeat and then, Reno snapped.

"Fuck you, Strife." The two men stared at each other, one glaring the other trying to sympathize. Then, before anyone could stop him, Reno dove into the green abyss of the Lifestream. He had walked away once; he wasn't letting Yuffie go so easily this time.

As the green tendrils enveloped him, lapped at his clothing and hair and skin, Reno searched. He had no idea how long he was submerged in the Lifestream, time didn't seem to matter anymore. Only Yuffie mattered; only finding her.

It felt like days, and maybe it was, although it could have only been seven minutes. Finally, Reno saw her appear from the depths of misty jade. Yuffie smiled softly at him, her arm wrapped around another figure. The flower girl. Aeris.

"Reno, my stupid, lovable Turkey. It's not time for you yet." She shook her head sadly.

"But… Yuffie…"

"But nothing, Reno. You have my love forever, and I know I have yours. Go back, and be with our friends. Have a happy life. I'll be hanging out here, waiting not-so-patiently for you, every single day. And then I'll take you up on all the breakfasts and fucking-me-silly-only-it's-really-lovemaking and all that."

Reno felt a small smirk curve over his lips. "I better get one last kiss to make that a done deal, Princess." The mischief hadn't reached his eyes however, and Yuffie didn't fail to notice it.

Still, she grinned playfully and in a moment her lips were just inches from his own. "Reno… I know this sucks, and I know it'll be hard… But I'd do it for you. So just… do it for me, okay?"

It was strange; Reno could still feel her breath and smell the cinnamon dust of her skin. "I'll… I'll try, Yuffs, but I'm not saying this'll be easy, yo."

"Babe, it's gonna be terribly hard. But I'll make it up to you once you're here, no worries. And by the way… tell Vinnie I'm sorry."

Finally, she kissed him and it sent a jolt, a shiver through every nerve in Reno's body. His eyes closed as their kiss deepened, Yuffie's hands knotted in his hair, her teeth nipping his lip; he didn't want to resurface.

'_I love you, Turkey.'_

'_Love you too, Yuffs.'_

* * *

Reno woke to plaid. He was in a bed and the bedspread was plaid, and the curtains at the windows were plaid and it just seemed like everything around him was plaid-something. It could only mean that he was back at Tifa's Seventh Heaven. Once his eyes had adjusted to his surroundings, he spotted Tifa sitting in the armchair next to the bed he occupied. And suddenly, Reno remembered everything.

Tifa spoke before he could even open his mouth. "I understand if you hate me, you know."

The Turk shook his head. "I don't hate you. Once she was set, there was no fucking stopping her."

A smile tugged the corners of Tifa's lips. "She always was stubborn. Stupidly so. But she would've done it for any of us."

Reno sighed. "Yeah… she would've."

"What will you do now?"

One crimson eyebrow quirked. "Now? Now I live life, waiting to die so I can be with that obnoxious thief I somehow fell for. Why the _fuck_ did it have to be her?"

"Because… Because she's Yuffie, and she has that affect on everyone. You never knew whether to hug her or smack her upside the head." Tifa leaned forward, elbows propped on her knees, pensive. "The funeral is next week, you know."

"It'll probably be something stiff and formal that Yuffie would hate." Reno smirked and Tifa giggled softly. The two sat in comfortable silence for a bit, each thinking their own thoughts, each remembering and missing the cheerful ninja-princess. Each loving her, in their own way.

Eventually, Reno knew what he had to do. He bid goodbye to Tifa and Cloud and headed over the Shin-Ra HQ, where he jumped into the first helicopter he could find and started out for Nibelheim.

Vincent answered the door before he could even knock. Reno wasn't there for very long, but while he was Shelke managed to stay hidden.

"Look Valentine, I gotta run, but I've got a message from Yuffie for ya."

Vincent's eyes tightened, but he murmured a typical one-word answer. "…yes?"

"She… she's really sorry about how things were left between you. She didn't mean half of what she said, and what she did mean she didn't mean half as sincerely as she said it."

Vincent still looked upset, although slightly less upset than usual. Reno didn't feel like hanging around and brooding all day, so he left shortly thereafter. He boarded the helicopter and swallowed a bit of nerves at his next destination.

It was time to meet the man who would have been his father-in-law someday.

Reno was sure that Yuffie would have traded all the materia in the world to see this.

* * *

(AN: Reviewers, I love you. Don't flame, I had to do it! Only one chapter left, so pleasepleaseplease review XD)


	11. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, T.T

* * *

"I'm sure I'll love him, daughter. If you love him, I'll love him too."

Yuffie grinned cheekily from the tips of her toes to the top of her forehead. "I don't know, Mama… I mean, _I _think he's the best, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only one."

Yuffie's mother stuck out her tongue in an uncanny mirror of her daughter. "Yuffie. Stop worrying. Godo didn't seem to have much of a problem with him when they met."

"Yeah, but only after threatening to castrate him with chopsticks!" The two women dissolved into laughter at that.

Even through her laughter, Yuffie's stomach was in knots. It had been years since she had been able to be close to Reno, to poke him and grab his hands and kiss his lips. What if he didn't love her anymore? What if their spark wasn't still there? What would they do then? Awkwardly drift off to different corners of the Lifestream to live out their eternities without each other? The ninja felt the familiar tearing pain through her chest. That was all the indication she needed.

She was still completely, undeniably, head-over-heels for the stupid, sexy, red-headed Turkey.

"I can't believe he's coming so soon…" Yuffie whispered it mostly to herself, but her mother still heard it.

"I'll leave you to have your reunion with him. I can meet him later." She smiled and waved slightly before disappearing, leaving Yuffie lost in her thoughts and memories.

Sixty-one years had passed. Reno was the first of her friends to be joining her in the Lifestream. Cid and Barrett were still hanging on, which Yuffie thought was a little miraculous; although they _had_ helped save the world multiple times so maybe it wasn't _so _astounding. All of her friends, AVALANCHE and Turks alike, were enjoying the comforts of old age and close family and friends. Except for Yuffie's company, obviously. But every year, they still got together on her birthday and the anniversary of her death. Or Tifa's resurrection, whichever way one chose to see it.

Yuffie thought it was corny and sweet all at once. She watched over them from the Lifestream, giggling at the crazy memories they brought up on those reunions, sighing whenever Reno got _too_ depressed, and trying to work up some upset that he never seemed to move on from her. It never worked. Yuffie was a selfish creature when it came to her Turk, and self-sacrifice hadn't done anything to change that.

She closed her eyes, and focused on Reno. He was getting ready for bed, and Yuffie knew that tonight was the night. He would be falling asleep in his own bedroom and waking up in the Lifestream.

The seconds ticked by, and Yuffie realized she was holding her breath. Her whole body was tensed as if she was about to assault or be assaulted. In her mind's eye, she watched his face, wrinkled with age and still unconditionally familiar. His jaw relaxed, his lips curving into a smile as he shut his eyes firmly. He knew it too. Knew that he would be returning to the Planet soon. Returning to Yuffie.

As Yuffie continued to gaze at his handsome face, she realized she didn't need to concentrate so intently on its vision in her subconscious. Slowly, that face was coming into focus in her actual realm. As Reno solidified before her, as he opened his eyes to focus them on her form, Yuffie smirked.

"Dying in you sleep? What a lame way to go."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Shut it, brat, just fucking kiss me already."

Yuffie needed no further urging. She flung herself into his arms, arms that were just as young as they had been when she had sacrificed herself and left him.

Before the Turk could get another word in, she slammed her lips against his, kissing him for all she was worth, attempting to pour sixty-one years of waiting into one long moment.

When she forced herself to pull away from him, he looked somewhat baffled. "How am I young again, yo?"

Yuffie grinned and stuck out her tongue. "Turkey, babe, you're just stuck in your twenties at heart. You never matured past that."

Reno lunged for her, swatting her behind. "I should kick your ass for that, princess!"

"But it's true, and you know it!" Yuffie half-heatedly attempted to wriggle out of his grasp, only managing to squirm deeper into his arms.

Laughing, the pair collided again in a kiss. They seemed to fall into each other, falling together, nothing changed after all the years apart except for a deepening in their passion.

As they separated, Yuffie smiled radiantly up at Reno. "Ready?" She asked.

The redhead quirked an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Silly Turkey… The beginning of the rest of our lives. Or existences, or whatever you want to call it."

Reno smirked back at her, brushing a stray bang from her stormy eyes, sparkling with happiness. His nerves seemed to tingle with every touch to her skin. "Yuff… I've been ready for the past sixty-one years." He brushed his lips against hers softly, before whispering, "Besides, I've got enough pent-up sexual need to last an entire lifetime, so we better get started."

"_Reno!!" _

_.Fin._

* * *

AN: Lovely Reviewers, this has been an awesome ride, but now it is over! I hope this epilogue, for all its shortness, was enough of a happy ending for you and I reaalllyyy hope you enjoyed it XD

Major thanks go out to all of you who have ever reviewed: **Kaikai PANTS, erin, Le Requiem, starbrightdreamer, RultaProductions, LM22101, Toast-Junkie, Kyuubi Malfoy, koalababay, Darkened-Skys, strawberrysodapop, Jillian Leohhart, jennie300303, JingYee, Polkaspot Pajamas, MrsGosh-Chan, GothKid12, yumchaitea, xXSilversilkenwingsXx, Naril, fringeperson, Oo Fiction Fan oO, Nayuko, and .Angel!! **You guys have made this all worth it, putting up with all my crazy long non-updating spurts and my general craziness as a writer.

I hope the ending didn't seem too abrupt, but I kinda like the time-jump to oh-yay-happiness-they're-together XD that's just how I roll. Lemme know what you think, and hopefully I'll see all of you in the future, either writing your own stuff or reading more of mine XD

~Bru


	12. Epilogue 2: The Alternate Ending

AN: Hello my lovely readers! It's certainly been a while. While this story has been completed for some time, I'll admit I was never fully satisfied with the way I ended it. Reno dying in his sleep sometime in his eighties? Really? Come on. He's a Turk! So, for all the readers out there who thought the ending should have gone a little bit differently, this is for you.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Everything you recognize belongs to Square.

* * *

Yuffie's first few weeks in the Lifestream were fairly blissful, despite the aching gap that Reno's absence left in her heart. She got to catch up with Aeris and her mother and a bunch of her childhood friends who had been lost in the Wutai-Shinra war all those years ago. Everything was peaceful in the Lifestream, peaceful and calm and happy.

But she had still given up Reno. And it still hurt. _A lot. _It didn't matter how much time passed, Yuffie knew it would continue to hurt until she could finally be with him again. Hours had turned into days which had turned into weeks and those began to turn into months. And Yuffie began to worry, because she began to watch Reno more and more. And what she saw scared her.

A small band of terrorists had sprung up in the underbelly of Edge. And not the good, AVALANCHE-y type of terrorists either. AVALANCHE has wanted to save the planet; this group just wanted everyone to burn. With the new onslaught of bombings and raids and attacks, Cloud and Co., plus the Turks, had dusted off their weapons and returned to the illustrious business of being heroes.

But that wasn't what scared Yuffie. She knew that her friends, both AVALANCHE and Turk alike, could take on the terrorists and come out victorious, even without her trusty shuriken and throwing stars and general awesomeness to aid them. She knew that they could take on anyone and anything and come out stronger and victorious, especially if they stuck together. The incident with the Remnants and then again with DeepGround had proved that.

No, what terrified Yuffie was how reckless Reno was becoming. Granted, he'd always been wild and daring, throwing himself into battle with a fervor that seemed careless—yet Yuffie knew the nonchalance came from years of practice, experience and desensitization. Yet this new recklessness was not born from years of violence and fighting as a Turk. It was fueled by a wish to die. And it made Yuffie sick to her stomach to think about it.

She first noticed it on a raid of one of the terrorist bases, deep within the worst part of the slums. Cloud, Barrett, Rude and Reno had approached the dilapidated building in the dead of night, shrouded in darkness and silence, save for Barrett's occasional mumbled curse. When the time was right, when Cloud signaled for them to mosey on in (or, more accurately, burst in with guns blazing, swords slashing and EMRs beating, shocking, sizzling), they had all thrown themselves into a frenzy. Yuffie watched from the sparkling abyss of the Lifestream, cheering her friends, her love, on. She gasped when one of the radicals raised his gun to point at an occupied Rude's back. Reno noticed too, just in time to shove his friend and partner out of the way and take the bullet square in the chest.

It had missed his heart by an inch. To everyone else, it had seemed like any other battle wound, granted, a much more dangerous and life-threatening one than those normally sustained, but an accidental wound on Reno's part nonetheless.

Yuffie knew better. She had seen the relief in his eyes as the bullet ripped through him, so the disappointment and despair when he awoke in a hospital to a smiling doctor telling him he was going to be fine. She knew he had wanted that bullet to pierce his heart and rip it to pieces and send him reeling, bleeding, into the Lifestream and her waiting arms.

Still, Yuffie had thought of it as a phase, one that he would get over as his grief faded. Perhaps she was just deluding herself, thinking that he would ever fully move on from her. If the situation had been reversed and she had been the one left behind, the ninja most certainly would have ended her days as a childless spinster. So it was with a worried heart that Yuffie continued to spy on the ongoing battle between her friends and the terrorist organization.

At first Reno's constant wounds seemed, for all intents and purposes, like simple bad luck. More gunshot wounds to the chest, some pretty awful gashes that always seemed to end up extremely close to various arteries. All fighters went through their unlucky stages, where no matter how hard they tried, they always emerged bloodied and beaten. Yuffie still knew better than all her friends still back among the living. Reno was not having a stroke of major bad luck. He was trying to die.

Yuffie watched over him constantly, counting his breaths, counting the minutes, the hours, the days, the weeks, waiting… waiting for his suicidal behavior to stop. When weeks turned into months, seven to be exact, and his antics only seemed to be getting worse, Yuffie knew she had to do something, intervene somehow.

His tenth attempt was her final straw.

Tifa, Elena, Vincent and Reno had been tracking the resident explosions expert for a few weeks when they finally had an opening to terminate him. His house had been easy enough for them to find, but it was a minefield of the newest and best security systems. Yuffie felt a pang of guilt as she watched her friends struggle to develop ways to break in while avoiding detection; it would have been much easier had she been there to help them. While the systems were indeed complex, nothing short of Sephiroth armed with Knights of the Round could keep the shinobi out of anywhere she wanted to go. Yet even without her expertise, they managed. It took them ten times longer than it should have, but she was proud of them, especially Tif. She seemed to have a knack for the finer arts of ninja.

Once they figured out how to breach the explosives expert's house, the raid went off without a hitch—almost. The foursome burst in at three in the morning, catching him off-guard as he worked on wiring together a bomb. Tifa singlehandedly subdued him, still in top form even after her death and resurrection, while Elena, Vincent and Reno scanned the area for any other traps, alarms or otherwise dangerous and deadly objects. Reno had ended up in the man's bedroom, curiously investigating a safe tucked under the bedside table. He tapped on it a few times, ran his fingers along the edges and then finally placed his ear against the black metal. Yuffie could see his eyes widen, hear his heart begin to beat just a fraction faster than usual. He deftly spun the number-wheel, listening for the clicks that were off-pitch, signaling the correct number. When the safe finally swung open, Reno's aquamarine gaze was contemplative.

A bomb was set inside, counting down from one minute. Yuffie recognized the brand and system it ran on; it was a very rare kind, one that had been wired to the front door and had been tripped as her friends intruded without the help of the key that would have stayed the bomb's countdown. Reno simply stared at it, determination dominating his gaze.

Fifty seconds left and Yuffie willed him to get the others and get out of the room. He didn't move an inch.

Forty seconds left and Yuffie willed one of his teammates to burst in and drag him from the room. They were all occupied.

Thirty seconds left and Yuffie started screaming.

Twenty seconds left and Elena finally entered the bedroom. Her eyes took in the entire scene in the space of one second and she rushed to Reno's side.

"Reno! Either disarm the thing or let's get out of here!" Eighteen seconds.

His eyes didn't move from the little red numbers. "No, Laney. Get the others and go." Fifteen seconds.

Elena smacked him upside the head before grabbing his arm and pulling with all her might. Thirteen seconds.

Twelve seconds as he rounded on her. "I SAID _**NO**_**, **GODDAMMIT!"

Eleven seconds as Vincent rushed into the room. With his added strength they managed to pull the screaming, cursing Turk from the apartment. Ten seconds as Tifa slammed the door behind them.

Five seconds as they reached a safe distance. One second as Reno fell to his knees. Time was up as the building exploded, bathing them all in red light and sickeningly charred debris.

Time was up as Yuffie made up her mind to do something, once and for all.

She went to her mother to share her worries, and to Aeris to find a solution.

"Yuffie-chan," her mother's soft voice chided, "You can't keep looking out for him forever. He loves you and he misses you and he obviously wants to be with you. Wouldn't you be doing the same if you were in his position?"

Yuffie shook her head vehemently. "Mama! If our places were switched and he had asked me to live a full life and move on and be happy, I'd at least _try_ and respect his final wishes!"

At this her mother had laughed, loud and full, her head thrown back. "'Respect his final wishes?' Yuffie, my darling daughter, are you hearing yourself? You, the most irritatingly stubborn person I know, would most certainly do what you thought was best for both of you, with no regard to his last wishes. You know that as well as I do."

While her mother's words may have been true, they were not what Yuffie wanted to hear. The thought of Reno killing himself, especially by willingly letting himself be blown to pieces, sickened her. So what if she would have been doing the same thing in his place? She was dead, so she allowed to be a hypocrite.

When she approached Aeris, the lovely flower girl had graced her with a knowing smile. "You're not going to be able to dissuade him, you know." Her voice was soft, tinkling and gentle.

Yuffie shook her head, frustrated. "I have to at least _try_, Aeris! You'd do it for any of us, wouldn't you?"

Green eyes dimmed slightly, before brightening again. "I already did, Yuffie. When everything with the Remnants started and Cloud was being…"

"Cloud." Yuffie finished the thought.

"Mm," Just one little affirmation before she continued, "I made contact a few times… Zack even came with me at the very end. Would you like me to teach you?"

Yuffie had accepted on the spot.

"It's really not that hard," Aeris explained, "You just have to… focus. Bring all your senses to believe that you're actually there with him. Create a place where you'd like the two of you to be, and then hear the sounds, smell the aromas, see the sights, feel it all on your skin. Feel _him_there with you. Smell him, see him, feel him. Even taste him if you need to." She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously as she said that part and Yuffie rolled her eyes.

She wanted to try immediately, but it was late at night in the living world and Reno was sleeping fitfully. Yuffie wanted him awake when she talked to him, so that he'd know it was real and not just chalk her appearance up to a dream.

Reno dreamed of her often, and she knew it. It pleased and tormented her all at once to know that he still thought of her, even in his dreams. It meant that he still loved her, but it also meant he still ached for her. Yuffie hated seeing him in pain.

She impatiently waited until morning, impatiently waited until Reno had fully woken, had his usual huge cup of coffee and headed to the small training room he kept in his apartment. He kicked and punched and viciously attacked a punching bag hanging from the ceiling, and Yuffie knew her big opportunity was coming up. She began to focus, picking her place carefully, and trying to time everything just right. Just as Reno took a leaping roundhouse kick towards the punching bag, Yuffie grinned and finished focusing.

She opened her eyes to see Reno standing before her, confusion and disbelief waging war in his eyes.

They were in the Mythril Mines. She thought it fitting, seeing as that was where their whole journey together had really started. The blueish-greenish light danced around them, and she could even hear a bit of a tinkling from the Mythril that formed deep within the rocky caverns. Reno just stared at her, love and pain etched across his face. Yuffie, as much as she wanted to hurl herself into her Turk and cover him in kisses, chose instead to plant her hands on her hips and glower.

"Just what the Hell do you think you're doing?"

"Yuffie…" her name fell from his lips like a prayer he never got tired of saying. He took a small step forward, as if afraid any sudden movements would cause her to evaporate into thin air.

Gray eyes tightened in pain and longing as he got closer, but the ninja sharply reminded herself that she had a mission to accomplish. "Reno… I love you, but you can't keep doing this to me! I'm literally rolling over in my grave every time I try to watch over you. Stop trying to kill yourself!"

"Yuffie… I…" there was uncertainty in his voice, but as he spoke it grew stronger, more sure. "I can't do this. I can't move on, I can't move past, I can't do anything other than dream of your face and your smell and the way you feel. I hurt every second of every minute of every hour of every day. And I'm tired of hurting when I know I can make the pain go away." Haunted aquamarine eyes nearly bored holes in her as Yuffie listened to his pain-flecked voice. Still, she was adamant.

"Blowing yourself to smithereens is _not_ going to make the pain go away, Reno! All it's gonna do is tear you apart and kill you!

But he shook his head, a hollow laugh echoing from his throat. "Yuffs, baby… You don't get it. You dying already tore me to pieces. Your death already killed me."

Yuffie crumbled a bit at that. "You were supposed to try and move on… or at least find some happiness…" But her voice had no authority, no power anymore.

Reno walked forward until there were only mere inches separating them. "Yuffie, how the hell can I move on when you're the only thing in this world I want? I love Rude and Laney and Tseng and all of your crackpot AVALANCHE friends… but they ain't you. They're family, but you're my home. They're friends, but you're my heart."

"I just… I don't want you to throw everything away, Reno!" There was anguish now, because as badly as she wanted to start her forever with her Turk right then and there, she didn't want to see his life end because of her.

"Yuffie, Princess, Brat, Baby… you're worth dying for." He smirked as she sighed irritably.

"You're impossible."

"You love it."

"I hate it!"

"Well… you love me."

"…"

"I'll be seeing you soon, Princess."

Yuffie stamped her foot, trying not to realize that she wasn't going to change his mind. "Reno! If you show up in the Lifestream anytime soon I'm gonna kick your dead butt so fucking hard!"

"Can't I just fuck you hard instead?" His Cheshire grin made her eye twitch, although his offer was far from repulsive.

"I have to go…" Yuffie sighed. Reno swore he almost felt her breath, as though she was real and solid and standing right in front of him. They were both wondering if they could touch without ruining the illusion, the vision, the meeting. "I'll miss you…" it was a tiny murmur, but it brought a smile to Reno's handsome face.

"You'll be seeing me soon, Yuffs."

"Again… you're impossible."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Turkey."

There was a tense moment where their eyes met, and Reno's heart began to pound out of rhythm. Yuffie's would have been too, if it could still beat. The distance between them disappeared as their lips molded together once more. Five seconds, and the moment shattered. Yuffie found herself back in the Lifestream, and Reno was back in his training room. Both were alone for the time being, but not for very long.

* * *

The next day was the final confrontation with the terrorist group. Reno went down in a hail of bullets, a grin on his face, fighting 'til the end.

Exactly the way a Turk should die.

All the other heroes made it out hardly worse for wear. The terrorists were either killed or taken into custody to be tried and found guilty and imprisoned for life. Yuffie sighed a huge breath of relief. Her friends were safe, and justice would be met.

She was turning to go find Aeris in order to share the good news when a pair of hungry, heated lips crashed onto hers. She didn't even need to look to know it was _him_. She had the feel of his mouth committed to memory, the smell of his skin familiar, the taste of him tongue comforting.

And when she finally did open her eyes, when she finally took in the smirking, cocky, handsome face that she had missed for so _fucking long_, when he playfully swatted her behind making a lewd comment about what he wanted to do with her now that they had forever, when he gazed at her with blazing, permanent, unconditional love, Yuffie knew she had finally come home.

Finally, finally, finally.

* * *

AN: Please let me know what you think in a review! I've made a promise that from this day forward, I will personally respond to any and all reviews I receive for my stories. I'm usually terrible at replying, which doesn't mean I don't appreciate the reviews, but I've finally just decided that I've got to start showing you all the love a little more XD

So click the little review button, and let's get the love started.


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